COVID cluster reported on Cary High School athletic team. It’s district’s 2nd cluster.
A COVID-19 cluster was reported Friday at Cary High, making it the second school in the Wake County school system to have a coronavirus outbreak.
In a letter sent to families and staff Friday, Cary High principal Nolan Bryant said Wake County Public Health identified a COVID cluster associated with one of the school’s athletic teams. A state report shows five cases at Cary High: three students and two staff members.
The letter doesn’t identify which athletic team had the cases.
“The individuals in the cluster have been identified and have been directed to isolate or quarantine,” Bryant says in the letter. “Individuals who have been infected or exposed to COVID-19 will not return to campus until they have met the requirements to do so.”
A “cluster” is defined by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services as five or more linked cases in the same facility within 14 days.
Previously, a cluster involving three staff and two students was identified in December at Lynn Road Elementary School in Raleigh. Wake County Superintendent Cathy Moore has said the cluster involved school meal times, one of the few instances where students and staff are allowed to remove face coverings during the school day.
Moore has said the Lynn Road cluster may lead to changes in how the district handles meal times.
On Thursday, the Wake County school board voted to extend the use of online-only classes through at least mid-February. No students have had in-person classes since December.
A majority of North Carolina public school students are back in remote-only instruction due to the rise in COVID-19 cases across the state.
High school athletes report COVID cases
Wake high schools haven’t had in-person classes since mid-March. But a number of COVID cases have been reported at high schools because student athletes are practicing.
Through Dec. 18, 75 people associated with Wake County high school athletic teams tested positive for COVID-19, according to Deran Coe, the district’s athletic director.
In a letter sent Thursday after the board vote, families were told no changes would be made at this time to high school athletics. Middle school athletics are on hold until in-person instruction resumes.
COVID clusters have been more common in Wake County in private schools and charter schools. Friday’s state report showed active clusters at Cary Christian School, Cardinal Charter Academy at Wendell Falls, Grace Christian School, North Raleigh Christian Academy and St. David’s School.
This story was originally published January 15, 2021 at 4:59 PM.
