Hundreds of Columbia Public School students quarantining
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Columbia Public Schools is reporting all four high schools, all seven middle schools and 17 out of 21 elementary schools have students out due to COVID-19.
According to the district's COVID-19 dashboard, 460 students across CPS are either out sick, or quarantined due to COVID-19. Of those, 34 elementary school students have active positive cases as of Thursday with an additional 246 out quarantined. The district's 14-day case rate currently sits at 41.5 cases per 10,000 people as of Wednesday, which is down slightly from the 45.9 cases per 10,000 people the district reported on the first day of school.
Staff rates haven't been as impacted, with just three out of seven middle schools and two out of 21 elementary schools reporting a staff member out due to COVID-19. Staff cases currently sit at eight throughout the district, with an additional four staff members quarantined due to COVID-19.
Columbia Public Schools' coronavirus plan requires students to quarantine when exposed if they haven't tested positive for COVID-19 in the past three months, are not fully vaccinated or if they've been within 3 feet of a positive person for 15 minutes or longer, regardless of whether they're wearing a mask. Children 12 and older are eligible to be vaccinated.
"The district's mitigation strategies in combination with revised contact tracing and quarantine protocols seek to balance keeping our scholars and employees safe with the importance of also keeping them learning in-person in our schools," Columbia Public Schools spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark said in response to an emailed question.
Sara Humm with the Columbia/Boone County Public Health Department said the majority of cases has always been from working-aged people, but since school started there has been a slight increase in school-aged cases.
"Over the last month, from Aug. 1 to Sept. 1, in that younger age group so the children who might be school-aged," Humm said. "Looking at zero to 18 [years-old], we've seen about 300 cases, but in comparison to that working-age group we've seen about triple that number within that same timeframe."
Trisha Patchett is staying home with her daughter Jenna, a second-grader in CPS. Jenna's classmate tested positive for COVID, which led to Jenna herself being sent home for a 10-day quarantine. Only students within 3 feet of the positive student had to quarantine.
Patchett said she doesn't understand why children have to quarantine when they were wearing masks.
"I thought [the mask requirement] was going to cut down from having to quarantine as much," Patchett said. "The more I hear I that's not going to happen."
With so many children needing to quarantine, Patchett said it'd be better to just go virtual again rather than send students back and forth.
"There has to be a better way to do this, and if you're going virtual--I hate it, and she's gonna miss out on so, so much, but at least she'll be able to go to daycare and be with kids," Patchett said.
This, comes just days after Battle High School announced their football team would cancel its game due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
