After K105 on Wednesday afternoon reported Grayson County Schools announced three new cases of coronavirus had been diagnosed within the district, on Wednesday night officials announced an additional three cases of the virus had been confirmed.
Officials said the three latest cases are a student at Clarkson Elementary School and two students at Grayson County High School. The Clarkson student and one of the high school students diagnosed last attended school on October 30, while the other positive high school student last attended school on November 4.
The new cases follow a staff member at Lawler Elementary School testing positive on Monday, with a staff member at Clarkson and another staff member at Lawler testing positive on Tuesday.
In total, GCS has had 22 COVID-19 cases diagnosed since November 2, according to the district’s COVID-19 reporting page. As of Wednesday evening, the district reported 17 active cases and 182 people quarantined: 160 students and 22 staff, according to the district’s COVID-19 Dashboard.
Superintendent Doug Robinson said last week — after announcing the district was transitioning back to virtual learning for at least this week – that GCS officials will discuss on Thursday the best way to move forward regarding reopening schools to in-person instruction in the midst of the growing COVID-19 pandemic in the Grayson County community. Complicating matters for school officials (or perhaps making the decision easier) are the 22 staff members currently in quarantine, including eight Grayson County Middle School staff.
Currently, Grayson County is suffering a “critical” spread of the virus, as the county has averaged nearly 14 new cases of the coronavirus per day since October 27. The 700 cases confirmed since the onset of the pandemic translates to one case for every 38.6 county residents.
On Wednesday, state officials reported 2,700 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed over the previous 24 hours, the most new cases announced in a single day since the beginning of the pandemic. Also on Wednesday, the statewide positivity rate rose to its highest level since early May, checking in at an alarming 8.12 percent.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
