Georgia second-grader tests positive for COVID-19 after one day back at school
A Georgia classroom was closed yesterday for deep cleaning after a second grader tested positive for the coronavirus on her first day back at Sixes Elementary, the Cherokee County school district told CNN .
As well as the affected student, the teacher and twenty other students have now been asked to quarantine for two weeks, just one day after officials attempted to oversee an in-person return to schooling.
Cherokee County’s guidelines for reopening schools had recommended mask use whenever social distancing wasn’t possible, but CNN reported that the district had not mandated their use. Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia has shut down attempts by local mayors to make masks a legal requirement, CNN reports.
Health experts are still trying to determine exactly how the virus spreads in children, but Cherokee County isn’t the only Georgia district with issues. Gwinnet County, Georgia’s largest school district, reported last week that 260 employees had either tested positive for the virus, or were exposed to it.
“As of last Thursday, we had approximately 260 employees who had been excluded from work due to a positive case or contact with a case,” GCPS spokeswoman Sloan Roach told CNN Sunday. “This number is fluid as we continue to have new reports and others who are returning to work.”
The district is still set to open solely for online learning on August 12.
