17 quarantining in Whale Branch cluster as Beaufort Co. schools surpass 600 COVID cases
An entire class at Whale Branch Elementary School has been moved to remote learning as 17 members of the elementary and middle school began quarantining, Beaufort County School District officials confirmed Friday.
The news comes as the district reports its 600th COVID-19 case among students and staff since Sept. 28, a 245-case increase in the 11 days since students returned from winter break to full-time, in-person classes for the first time since March.
They are quarantining “as a result of a COVID-19 case outside of the school buildings,” district spokesperson Candace Bruder said. All 17 were deemed close contacts of an individual who tested positive for COVID-19, with their last contact on Jan. 7.
The district was informed of the case Wednesday afternoon, and students began quarantining on Thursday, a full week after their close contact.
Seven other Whale Branch Elementary students who were not close contacts are learning remotely “out of an abundance of caution,” Bruder said, meaning a “whole class” at that school has been moved to remote learning until Jan. 22. They will resume in-person classes Jan. 25.
Because the positive individual is “had not entered the school buildings and is not a member of either school,” the district did not send out school-wide notifications for the quarantines, Bruder said.
“However, all close contacts were notified by phone as part of the contact tracing process,” she said.
Whale Branch Elementary has not recorded any COVID-19 cases in the past two weeks, according to the district’s case dashboard.
Whale Branch Middle recorded one case on Jan. 11, which Bruder said was a student who attended virtual classes.