This week, the 15-campus Bulloch County Schools reported their highest number of new COVID-19 cases yet, but a school system spokeswoman said most originated over the holiday break.

The count shown on the county school district’s online COVID-19 daily report stood at 40 new cases among students and personnel at 4:30 p.m. Friday for Week 21, Jan. 3-9. The previous high was 23 cases in Week 2 of the school year, Aug. 23-29.

But students were back in classrooms only three days this week, the start of second semester. Most of the new cases were diagnosed during the holidays, said Hayley Greene, Bulloch County Schools public relations director.

“A majority of cases we have reported for Week 21 (this week) are not persons that have even been in or on school property,” Greene wrote in a reply email Thursday afternoon.

Students or employees who got sick or tested positive before school started back notified their schools or school nurses by phone  or through the district’s online COVID-19-related absence  form, she explained. These individuals were then quarantined or isolating when school resumed for teachers Monday, Jan. 4, and for students Wednesday, Jan. 6.

“Our cases next week (Week 22) would be the truer picture of any spread due to schools reopening,” Greene stated.

The Week 21 total continued to rise Friday, when eight of the 40 cases were reported. Phoned at midday, Greene said that no changes were planned in school operations.

Holiday numbers

She had continued to update the Bulloch County Schools’ online COVID-19 reports during the holidays, showing seven cases for “Week 19,” Dec. 20-26, and  16 cases for “Week 20,” Dec. 27-Jan. 2, even though no students  or teachers were in school during those weeks.

Some basketball games and the Portal Middle High School varsity girls’ competition in the state flag football championship took place over the holidays.

“While we did have some athletics events in progress during the break, the majority of cases that you see us reporting for weeks 19, 20, and 21 are due to community spread and community exposure because schools were closed, but we did not make that distinction,” Greene stated in the email.

But the school system’s reports had shown a resurgence in novel coronavirus case numbers during the two weeks before the winter holiday break. After eight cases during Week 15 and just six cases during Week 16, there were 22 new cases reported among students and personnel Week 17, which was Dec. 6-12, and 22 new cases again Week 18, Dec. 13-19.

As of Friday afternoon, 77 individuals were away from school on precautionary quarantine. The recent peak was 219 quarantined students and school personnel the week of Dec. 6-12.

Claxton schools

Meanwhile, the Evans County school system, which includes Claxton Elementary, Claxton Middle and Claxton High School, will revert Monday to the special split-week schedule under which these schools started fall semester.

Roughly half of Evans County’s students are again assigned to attend school Monday and Tuesday and the other half Thursday and Friday, with Wednesday as a day for sanitizing buildings.

Citing a spike in community COVID cases, Evans County Schools Superintendent Marty Waters made the decision in consultation with the county’s school board.

“While the number of community cases has not reached a level of high risk, we believe the best course of action is to be proactive and remain steadfast and vigilant in our health and safety mitigation efforts,” their Thursday press release stated.

The Evans County system reported having 15 confirmed positive cases among school employees with another 12 faculty and staff members “in quarantine due to symptoms.”

“The district has had to quarantine 18 students who have reported positive tests or direct exposure,” the notice also stated. “The district is reaching a critical point of being able to cover classrooms with instructors.”

So the alternating split schedule for in-person students will resume Monday, Jan.  11, and continue at least through Friday, Jan. 29.

The schools in Claxton, which also provide a “virtual” online learning option for families who chose it, started the school year Sept. 8 with the alternating schedule for in-person students. But when COVID-19 case numbers declined, the district shifted to a regular five-day schedule Sept. 28.

It then closed two of its schools two days early for the Christmas through New Year’s break as resurging quarantine counts reduced the number of teachers available.