Decline in COVID cases continues in Beaufort Co. schools as modified quarantine begins
The Beaufort County School District saw a drop in COVID-19 numbers for a third week in a row as the district’s test-to-stay program got into full swing, allowing students to potentially shorten the quarantine period.
The district logged a total of 14 positive cases for staff and 45 positive student cases, Superintendent Frank Rodriguez said in Tuesday night’s board meeting. Staff numbers are down from 53 and student numbers are down from 323 from the previous week, he said.
The district logged between 648 and 654 quarantines for students and between 12 and 48 quarantines for staff the week of Feb. 7-11, according to the latest data from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. Just last month, the district saw a record-breaking surge in infections, according to previous reporting from the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
“Everything continues to move in the right direction,” Rodriguez said.
The district this week implemented DHEC’s test-to-stay program, which allows students who have come in close contact with someone who has or is suspected of having covid to stay in class, providing they agree to wear a mask for 10 days and are not experiencing any symptoms of the virus.
Students must also take an at-home covid test between five and seven days after exposure. DHEC has provided the school district with approximately 40,000 at-home tests, Rodriguez said. The tests will not be administered by school nurses at school, he said, but instead by parents at home. Parents can decide whether they wish to participate in the test-to-stay program. Those who decline must have their children quarantine as outlined by DHEC’s School and Childcare Exclusion List.
Before test-to-stay, students considered to be in close contact with people suspected of having covid were required to quarantine for 10 days and could only come back to school at the end of the quarantine period if they were not presenting symptoms of the virus. The period of quarantine could end on day five if no symptoms had been reported, but a mask would need to be worn until day 10, according to DHEC.
