Published on August 10, 2020 at 04:27AM by Derek Hawkins, The Washington Post
A cluster of novel coronavirus cases has emerged at the Georgia high school that drew national attention last week after students posted pictures and videos of their peers walking without mask in tightly packed hallways, according to a letter sent to parents over the weekend.
Six students and three staff members at North Paulding High School have reported testing positive for the virus, Principal Gabe Carmona wrote in the letter, which was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He said the infected people were in school "for at least some time" last week.
Superintendent Brian Otott later announced that the school will close Monday and Tuesday, and revert to virtual learning while the building is cleaned. The district will announce Tuesday evening whether in-person instruction will resume the next day, Otott wrote to parents Sunday in a second letter, shared by a WSB-TV reporter.
Otott added that anyone who has tested positive, as well as close contacts of people who have the virus, must quarantine for 14 days before returning to school.
The infections validate concerns in Georgia and nationwide that crowded conditions in the nation's K-12 schools could facilitate virus transmission as the new academic year begins. Young people develop severe infections at far lower rates than adults, but experts warn that they could be vectors for infecting more-vulnerable populations, such as older relatives in the same household.
Carmona said custodial workers were cleaning and disinfecting the school building daily - a practice that offers only marginal protections against the virus, which primarily spreads through person-to-person contact, not from contaminated surfaces.
"The health and well-being of our staff and students remains our highest priority," Carmona said, "and we are continuing to adjust and improve our...
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