GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — As the delta variant of COVID-19 continues to spread, schools across Eastern North Carolina continue to work hard and adjust to keep campuses safe.
“I think Lenoir County Public Schools is off to a smooth start considering the circumstances,” said Public Information Officer for Lenoir County Public Schools, Patrick Holmes.
Lenoir County schools are seeing 176 new cases this week. That’s a 2.09% positivity rate. Pitt County Schools have 100 on-campus staff and student positive cases, a .37% positivity rate.
Both districts say the high spread throughout the community is also happening in schools.
“With a high positivity rate, we are seeing cases come to schools and we are having our nurses and contact tracers working very hard,” said Jennifer Johnson, public information officer with Pitt County Schools.
“That number is down from the previous week so that’s good news. Considering how COVID is spreading throughout the county, we’re going to have some cases. We’re just trying to do what we can,” said Holmes.
Both school districts are following COVID safety guidelines and ask parents to keep students home if they show symptoms.
“We are very excited and happy to have our students back in our schools and back with face-to-face learning so that we can catch up on those learning loses that may have happened during last year,” said Johnson.
East Carolina University is seeing clusters in three sorority houses and mail services. The university released a statement:
“The individuals in these clusters have been identified and contact tracing has been initiated. ECU continues efforts to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 through masking, vaccination, contact tracing, quarantine and isolation.”
Pitt County Schools is speaking with a company to look at options for coronavirus testing.
A full list of school district COVID-19 dashboards are listed below:
Pitt County Schools COVID-19 dashboard
Martin County Schools COVID-19 dashboard
Lenoir County Public Schools COVID-19 dashboard
Beaufort County Schools COVID-19 weekly dashboard
Craven County Schools COVID-19 weekly dashboard
Onslow County Schools COVID-19 weekly dashboard