By Taylor Boyd
After weeks of changing data, the Patrick County Public Schools system and neighboring school divisions are seeing a stagnation of COVID-19 cases and quarantines, according to the various schools’ COVID-19 dashboards.
Walter Scott, vice-chairman of the Patrick County School Board and Smith River District representative, said he believes cases will continue to level out as people are growing more accustomed to understanding what they can and cannot do.
“We’re all bad about letting our guard down. So, I would say a spike would be on all of us being guilty of letting our guard down a little bit,” he said.
Scott said it looks like there is an average of two cases a day at Patrick County High Schools, which is not bad in his eyes compared to the number of students and staff at the school.
Patrick County
As of Wednesday, Sept. 22 the Patrick County Public Schools dashboard suggested there were 33 positive cases and 123 quarantines in the school system. This is a decline of two cases and an increase of 10 quarantines for the school system.
The dashboard suggested there were 22 cases and 49 quarantines at Patrick County High School, a decline of one case and an increase of seven students and staff in quarantine from the previous week’s report.
The dashboard also suggested that all the elementary schools have a minimum of one person in quarantine, and at least two positive cases, except for Meadows of Dan and Woolwine elementary schools, which reported no positive case. This is the third week in a row Meadows of Dan has reported no positive cases.
The data shows that Blue Ridge Elementary School had a decrease of nine quarantines from last week’s report. Quarantines at Hardin Reynolds Memorial School appear to have decreased, from seven to two, and Meadows of Dan decreased by two quarantines.
Patrick Sprigs Primary School saw an increase of four quarantines and Stuart Elementary School’s quarantines increased to 33 from last week’s 19. Woolwine’s reported quarantines increased to one.
There were no reported cases or quarantines in the Central Office, Transportation Office, Maintenance Department, or the Technology Department, according to the dashboard.
The Patrick County Public School COVID-19 Dashboard is updated by the close of business each Wednesday. It can be viewed at www.patrick.k12.va.us/families/covid-19_dashboard.
Henry County
In Henry County Public Schools, data suggested that as of September 24, there were 34 positive cases and 128 quarantines. This is a decrease of two cases and 33 quarantines from the previous week.
The data suggests Magna Vista High School has nine positive cases and 23 students and staff in quarantine, the highest in the division. This is a decrease of 19 quarantines from the previous week’s report.
Bassett High School is reported to have five positive cases and 19 people in quarantine, a decrease of three cases and five quarantine from last week. Laurel Park Middle School has four positive cases and 12 quarantines, and Meadow View Elementary School has one person in quarantine and 15 in quarantine.
The data suggests all the elementary schools have a minimum of one person in quarantine. Stanleytown, Mt. Olivet, GW Carver and Campbell Court elementary school reported no positive cases.
There were no reported cases or quarantines in the Axton Annex, Facilities Maintenance, Center for Community Learning, and Central Office.
The Henry County Public School division dashboard is updated every Friday by the end of the business day. It can be viewed at www.henry.k12.va.us/Page/22823.
City of Martinsville
Martinsville City Public Schools is reported to have 11 confirmed cases amongst its students and three confirmed cases amongst its employees, for an increase of three cases in the school division.
Six of the positive cases are in Martinsville High School and five are at Martinsville Middle School. Albert Harris and Patrick Henry elementary schools, as well as the Central Office/Bus Divison/Maintenance each reported one confirmed case.
The dashboard can be viewed at www.martinsville.k12.va.us/division-updates/covid-19/covid-19-data-dashboard.
