Three Manatee County Schools Report COVID-19 Cases

Less than 48 hours after reopening to students, COVID-19 cases were reported at three Manatee County schools.

Officials from Ballard Elementary in Bradenton and Parrish Community High School notified families and school staff Tuesday.

They did not say how many people were affected at each school – or if the infected persons are students or school employees.

The people who tested positive, and those the Florida Department of Health identified as having direct exposure to them have been asked to isolate at home for 14 days.

Portions of both campuses were cleaned with a special disinfectant overnight, and classes resumed Wednesday.

“Please note that we continue to take mitigation measures at our school including taking temperatures, wearing masks, asking symptom-related questions of all students and staff daily and limiting access to our campus,” said a message sent home with students at both schools.

“Most importantly, if a student or staff member feels sick, believes they have symptoms or has had a test for COVID-19, please stay home until you are symptom free or you receive a negative test result.”

The Bradenton Herald reported another case of COVID-19 was confirmed at Rowlett Academy for Arts and Communication, a charter school in Bradenton.

The school also notified families Tuesday, and closed portions of its campus for a few days for cleaning.

The Herald reported another case that occurred over the weekend at Kinnan Elementary School in Sarasota. The infected person and a “small number” of people directly exposed were sent home, and a section of the school was closed for sanitizing.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported earlier this week that 48 percent of the Manatee County public school district's 50,000 students are taking classes in person full-time.

And 29 percent are taking classes completely online, while 23 percent are taking a hybrid form of learning where they're inside a brick-and-mortar school two days a week.

Positive COVID-19 cases were reported at four Manatee County school campuses during teacher training last week, which led to an undisclosed number of staff members going into isolation.

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