Education

Students at these four Manatee County schools had COVID, district says in new report

The School District of Manatee County has added four new COVID-19 cases — all among students — in an update posted Tuesday evening.

At least 24 other people were exposed to the students who tested positive for COVID-19, meaning they were in proximity for at least 15 minutes. Both the infected and exposed people were sent into quarantine to avoid potential spread on campus.

According to the report from the district, students were affected at these Manatee County schools:

  • Harvey Elementary School, one positive student and nine exposures.
  • Manatee High School, one positive student and unknown exposures (contact tracing was ongoing as of Tuesday evening).
  • Palmetto High School, one positive student and three exposures.
  • Prine Elementary, one positive student and 12 exposures.

The school district’s latest update showed a decline from the previous day. On Monday, after students returned from Good Friday and Easter Sunday, there were eight new COVID-19 cases and at least 48 exposures.

As of Tuesday night, the district recorded a total of 480 cases and at least 6,476 exposures at local schools and offices in the second semester, which began in early January.

Lakewood Ranch High School had 40 cases as of the latest update, the most of any district school or office in the current semester. Manatee High School had the second-highest count with 27 cases throughout the second semester, followed by Parrish Community High, which recorded 25 COVID-19 cases.

Two district sites — Myakka City Elementary and the Wakeland Support Center — had yet to record a case as of Tuesday.

GS
Giuseppe Sabella
Bradenton Herald
Giuseppe Sabella, education reporter for the Bradenton Herald, holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Florida. He spent time at the Independent Florida Alligator, the Gainesville Sun and the Florida Times-Union. His coverage of education in Manatee County earned him a first place prize in the Florida Society of News Editors’ 2019 Journalism Contest. Giuseppe also spent one year in Charleston, W.Va., earning a first-place award for investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @Gsabella
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