GLYNN COUNTY, Ga. — Hundreds of Glynn County students are in quarantine Tuesday after the school district reported 19 students have tested positive for COVID-19, as well as 10 staff members.
But educators are asking parents not to worry about the numbers.
Glynn Academy in Brunswick is where many of the positive student cases have been reported so far. The secondary school reported 12 of the district’s 19 cases among students so far this year. The district says 10 staff members have tested positive for coronavirus.
More than 200 students are in quarantine due to positive COVID-19 cases.
The county’s PTA president, Heather Colvin, says she thinks numbers show an abundance of caution from the district.
“Although it’s a high number, I understand why it's high. That’s because of the abundance of caution that the administration of Glynn County is taking,” Colvin said on the phone.
For perspective, Glynn County Superintendent Dr. Scott Spence says that’s less than two percent of their student population.
"To quarantine even one student concerns me, but in the grand scheme of things, we have less than two percent of our population quarantined at this time," Spence wrote to First Coast News via email.
The district is working with the local health department on contact tracing, Spence wrote.
"In Glynn County Schools, if a student, faculty or staff member has shown COVID-19 symptoms, tested positive, are awaiting results or had close contact with a person with COVID-19, they must notify their school principal and quarantine for 14 days," Spence added.
Schools in the county have been in session for nearly two weeks, but Colvin thinks both the district and parents are making necessary adjustments.
“I think everyone is working with it and satisfied, and it doesn’t seem the school system is doing anything that is detrimental. They are doing everything to create a safe environment for our children and our teachers,” Colvin said.
Statistics on COVID-19 can be found on the school district’s website.