Wake schools report record 128 new COVID-19 cases and first coronavirus cluster
The Wake County school system is reporting a record number of new COVID-19 cases in the past week, including the first coronavirus cluster in the district.
Wake County reported late Thursday 128 new confirmed COVID-19 cases over the past week at 83 schools. Students accounted for 69 of the new cases, with 59 cases among staff. It’s the first week students made up the majority of new cases.
The new weekly update also includes the district’s first COVID-19 cluster at Lynn Road Elementary School in Raleigh, where 5 COVID-19 cases have been reported in a 14-day period.
On Friday, Lynn Road was added to the state Department of Health and Human Services’ list of active COVID-19 clusters at schools. Other Wake County schools on the list are a charter school (Cardinal Charter Academy) and three private schools (Cary Christian School, Grace Christian School and St. David’s School).
Lynn Road families were told Thursday that the people in the cluster have been directed to isolate or quarantine. Individuals who have been infected or exposed to COVID-19 will not return to campus until they have met the requirements to do so.
“Based on the guidance of health officials, we do not need to close the school,” Lynn Road says in the letter to families. “Our remaining classes and school functions will continue with a renewed focus on our health and safety protocols.”
The school system and county health officials are jointly investigating the cluster.
Critics have complained about how elementary schools are allowed by the state to operate at full capacity. This means that while students and staff wear face masks, schools are not required to provide at least 6 feet of social distancing in classrooms.
Wake pausing in-person classes
Friday is the last day of classes before Wake County students go on winter break. Difficulty finding substitute teachers and the fear of a post-Christmas COVID-19 spike caused the Wake school board to vote Tuesday to suspend in-person instruction for all schools from Jan. 4-15.
“Our staff is not immune to the rapid spread of the virus in the greater community,” Wake says on its website. “When cases increase, so do the number of our employees who are required to quarantine as a result.”
This week’s districtwide total is more than the 84 cases reported last week and part of a trend of more cases being reported weekly. It comes at a time when the state is seeing record levels of new cases, leading to a new statewide curfew that asks people to stay at home from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m..
Wake is an “orange” county in the state’s COVID-19 alert system, meaning “there’s “substantial community spread.”
The district has reported 432 cases since Oct. 26, when the first students began returning for in-person instruction.
Since Oct. 29, Wake has reported 244 cases among staff and 183 among students.
Schools with reported cases
Cases have been reported this past week at these Wake schools:
▪ Abbotts Creek Elementary (3 staff)
▪ Apex Friendship High (1 staff)
▪ Apex High (2 students)
▪ Baileywick Elementary (3 students)
▪ Ballentine Elementary (2 staff)
▪ Banks Road Elementary (1 student)
▪ Barwell Road Elementary (1 staff)
▪ Beaverdam Elementary (1 student)
▪ Brassfield Elementary (1 staff)
▪ Briarcliff Elementary (1 student)
▪ Brier Creek Elementary (1 student)
▪ Brooks Elementary (1 student)
▪ Broughton High (1 staff, 1 student)
▪ Carroll Middle (4 students)
▪ Creech Road Elementary (1 staff)
▪ Dillard Drive Middle (1 staff)
▪ Douglas Elementary (1 staff, 1 student)
▪ Durant Road Middle (1 student)
▪ East Cary Middle (2 students, 1 staff)
▪ East Garner Middle (2 staff, 1 student)
▪ East Wake High (2 students)
▪ Enloe High (1 staff, 1 student)
▪ Farmington Woods Elementary (1 student)
▪ Forestville Road Elementary (1 staff)
▪ Forest Pines Elementary (1 staff)
▪ Fox Road Elementary (1 student)
▪ Fuquay-Varina High (2 staff, 1 student)
▪ Garner High (2 students, 1 staff)
▪ Green Level High (2 staff, 1 student)
▪ Harris Creek Elementary (1 staff)
▪ Herbert Akins Elementary (1 staff)
▪ Heritage Elementary (1 student)
▪ Heritage High (2 students, 1 staff)
▪ Heritage Middle (1 staff, 1 student)
▪ Hodge Road Elementary (1 student)
▪ Holly Ridge Elementary (1 staff)
▪ Holly Springs Elementary (2 students, 1 staff)
▪ Holly Springs High (1 student)
▪ Hortons Creek Elementary (1 student)
▪ Hunter Elementary (1 staff)
▪ Jeffreys Grove Elementary (1 staff)
▪ Joyner Elementary (1 staff)
▪ Knightdale Elementary (1 staff)
▪ Lake Myra Elementary (2 students)
▪ Laurel Park Elementary (1 student)
▪ Leesville Road High (1 student)
▪ Ligon Middle (1 staff)
▪ Lockhart Elementary (1 student)
▪ Lynn Road Elementary (3 staff, 2 students) cluster reported
▪ Martin Middle (1 student)
▪ Middle Creek High (1 student)
▪ Mills Park Middle (1 student)
▪ North Garner Middle (1 student)
▪ North Ridge Elementary (1 staff)
▪ Oakview Elementary (2 staff)
▪ Pine Hollow Middle (1 staff, 1 student)
▪ Powell Elementary (1 student)
▪ Rand Road Elementary (1 staff)
▪ Richland Creek Elementary (1 staff, 1 student)
▪ Rolesville Elementary (1 student)
▪ Rolesville High (1 staff)
▪ Rolesville Middle (1 student)
▪ Salem Middle (1 staff)
▪ Sanderson High (1 staff)
▪ Sanford Creek Elementary (1 staff, 1 student)
▪ South Garner High (1 staff)
▪ South Lakes Elementary (1 staff)
▪ Sycamore Creek Elementary (1 student)
▪ Swift Creek Elementary (1 staff)
▪ Timber Drive Elementary (1 staff, 1 student)
▪ Wakefield High (2 students)
▪ Wakelon Elementary (2 students)
▪ Wake Forest High (1 student)
▪ Wake Forest Middle (1 student)
▪ Wake Young Men’s Leadership Academy (1 staff)
▪ Walnut Creek Elementary (1 staff)
▪ West Cary Middle (1 staff)
▪ West Lake Elementary (2 staff)
▪ West Lake Middle (2 students, 1 staff)
▪ Wildwood Forest Elementary (1 student)
▪ Wilburn Elementary (1 staff)
▪ Zebulon Elementary (3 students)
▪ Zebulon Middle (1 staff)
Questions about school list
Individual schools send notices to families after a staff member or student tells them they have COVID-19.
Questions continue to exist around why it’s taking so long for some reported cases to be posted on the district’s list. Wake says it lists cases on its website when it gets confirmation of a positive test result from health officials.
Wake has been retroactively adding cases. For instance, Wake initially reported 80 new cases last Thursday before updating it to say there were 84 cases between Dec. 3-9.
This week, Wake began listing on the metrics page when the person was last on campus. Also, Wake plans to update the site daily instead of weekly starting in January.
Wake has 157,000 students and more than 190 schools. Health officials have told the district that it’s reasonable to expect one new case per school each week.
This story was originally published December 17, 2020 at 10:42 PM.
