53 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the past week at these 43 Wake County schools
The Wake County school system reported 53 new confirmed COVID-19 cases over the past week at a time when North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper says the state is facing a “dire situation” due to the pandemic.
The latest update to the school district’s COVID-19 metrics page shows that 43 schools reported new cases since last week, with several reporting multiple cases. The number of coronavirus cases statewide has reached such high levels that Cooper announced new stricter rules on wearing face masks that went into effect at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
The district has reported 146 cases since Oct. 26, when the first students began returning for in-person instruction. This week’s total is up from the 42 new cases reported last week and has risen every week. over the past month.
Wake has nearly 160,000 students in more than 190 schools. Health experts have advised Wake that it’s reasonable to expect one new case per school each week.
Wake updates its COVID-19 dashboard (https://www.wcpss.net/Page/46136) every Thursday.
Schools with reported cases
Cases have been reported this past week at these Wake schools:
▪ Apex Elementary (1 case)
▪ Apex Friendship High (1 case)
▪ Athens Drive High (1 case)
▪ Aversboro Elementary (1 case)
▪ Brassfield Elementary (3 cases)
▪ Brier Creek Elementary (1 case)
▪ Buckhorn Creek Elementary (1 case)
▪ Carnage Middle (1 case)
▪ Carver Elementary (1 case)
▪ Cedar Fork Elementary (1 case)
▪ Dillard Drive Middle (1 case)
▪ East Wake High (3 cases)
▪ Fuquay-Varina Middle (1 case)
▪ Green Elementary (2 cases)
▪ Herbert Akins Elementary (1 case)
▪ Heritage Elementary (2 cases)
▪ Heritage Middle (1 case)
▪ Holly Ridge Elementary (1 case)
▪ Holly Springs Elementary (1 case)
▪ Joyner Elementary (1 case)
▪ Knightdale Elementary (1 case)
▪ Leesville Road High (1 case)
▪ Lincoln Heights Elementary (1 case)
▪ Lufkin Road Middle (1 case)
▪ Middle Creek Elementary (2 cases)
▪ Middle Creek High (1 case)
▪ Mills Park Middle (1 case)
▪ Moore Square Middle (1 case)
▪ North Ridge Elementary (1 case)
▪ Panther Creek High (1 case)
▪ Rand Road Elementary (1 case)
▪ Richland Creek Elementary (1 case)
▪ River Bend Elementary (1 case)
▪ Root Elementary (1 case)
▪ Sanderson High (1 case)
▪ Sanford Creek Elementary (1 case)
▪ South Garner High (1 case)
▪ Vernon Malone College and Career Academy (1 case)
▪ Wake Forest High (1 case)
▪ Wake Forest Middle (1 case)
▪ Wildwood Forest Elementary (1 case)
▪ Willow Springs Elementary (2 cases)
▪ Zebulon Middle (1 case)
One case each was also reported at Crossroads I and Crossroads 2, the district’s main headquarters in Cary.
Wake students in class
Wake’s new COVID-19 reports come at a time when many of the district’s students are still taking classes online instead of in-person.
More than 85,000 students in the Virtual Academy program only have online courses. High school students are also only getting online courses this semester. But some teens, such as those in athletics and performing arts, are meeting on campus..
Middle school students and students in fourth and fifth grades are getting a limited amount of in-person classes. They’re attending on a rotation of one week of in-person classes and two weeks of remote learning.
Only PreK-3 students and K-12 special-ed students in regional programs are getting daily in-person classes. Due to the full class sizes, some K-3 classrooms can only provide three feet of social distancing instead of the six feet being provided in other classrooms.
In January, the plan is to switch fourth and fifth grade students to daily in-person instruction. Middle school and high school students would get a mix of in-person and remote learning.
COVID-19 cases soar in state
Wake’s update comes as North Carolina health officials reported Wednesday that a record 1,811 people statewide are in the hospital due to COVID-19. In addition, Wednesday marked the third-highest day of new recorded COVID-19 cases in the state.
Under the new state rules, face masks must be worn inside any public setting with non-household members, even when six feet apart. They must be worn in public outdoor settings if social distancing isn’t possible.
The changes include people who weren’t required to wear masks before, including people in private schools and some homeschooled students.
This story was originally published November 26, 2020 at 9:58 AM with the headline "53 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the past week at these 43 Wake County schools."
