By Taylor Boyd
The number of COVID-19 cases are surging in many areas, with more than 80 at Patrick County High School, and 10 at Stuart Elementary School, in quarantine.
Brandon Simmons, chairman of the School Board and of the Dan River District, said a total of 84 students and staff members at the high school are currently in quarantine.
Sixty-two of those people were in contact with someone at the high school, Schools Superintendent Dean Gilbert said.
The other 22 were “because people told us they were keeping a child home. They have a sibling that was positive, or something of that nature,” Gilbert said, adding a person attended an event Saturday later tested positive for the virus. Others were exposed, he said, “and they turned up positive now.”
Gilbert said Tuesday an additional 10 students and/or staff members at Stuart Elementary School also are in quarantine.
“As soon as we know anything, the first thing the administration does is they start doing their tracing going back I think 48-hours. Then they start notifying people that there are possible cases and how many people need to be quarantined,” Simmons said.
Simmons said the risk of COVID-19 and being quarantined has become “part of it really.” If parents want their children “to be learning in school face-to-face, and going five-days a week, then it’s a chance that people take,” he said, adding he believes it’s worth it for his own children to learn.
Dr. Richard Cole, of Patrick County Family Practice, said he noted “a sharp increase” in the number of positive cases in the county. “This increase involves school aged children.”
Cole said he anticipated additional cases as students returned to classes and noted that infected youngsters may spread the virus to family members.
“I urge school-aged children, especially if unvaccinated, to protect themselves and their families” by wearing a mask and following other recommendations, Cole wrote.
As of August 15, data from the Virginia Department of Health suggested there were 1,499 cases in Patrick County, with 122 hospitalized, and 47 dead. An estimated 32.7 percent of the population, or 5,758 people, had been fully vaccinated; 36.7 percent of the population received at least one dose, and 38.7 percent of the adult population is fully vaccinated.
Data also suggested that 4,712,192 Virginians had been fully vaccinated.
For more tips on how to stay safe, visit www.vdh.virginia.gov or www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov.
