More than 100 COVID cases, 1,000 exposures reported in Henrico Schools last week

The Henrico County Public Schools division reported more than 100 new COVID-19 cases and 1,000 close contacts last week.

Between Monday and Friday of last week, there were 56 cases reported at the elementary level, 26 in middle schools, 26 in high schools and one in the facilities annex.

Since Sept. 1, there have been 688 cases reported division-wide. There are about 48,000 in-person students and about 7,000 staff members in HCPS, according to the most recent estimates provided by the school district.

Those 109 cases district-wide last week resulted in 1,005 close contacts. Close contacts, also known as exposures, don’t necessarily mean a student or staff member was quarantined. Vaccinated people generally do not have to quarantine, but they are still accounted for in the contact tracing process.

There were 56 cases reported last week at the elementary level, where students are too young to be vaccinated at this time (though the FDA could approve the Pfizer vaccine for children aged five to 11 by the end of October). The only elementary school with more than five cases was Arthur Ashe Elementary with 13 cases reported last week.

At Ratcliffe Elementary, one case resulted in 57 close contacts — the highest number of exposures at a single elementary school last week. For students, an exposure is defined as being within 3 feet of a person who is COVID positive for 15 minutes or more, over a 24 hour time period. For those not wearing a well-fitted mask, being within 6 feet for the same time period is also considered close contact.

Middle schools reported 26 cases last week, which resulted in 202 close contacts. The most exposures came from Moody Middle with 70 and Fairfield Middle with 59.

In HCPS high schools, two schools accounted for the majority of cases and exposures last week. Varina High’s eight cases resulted in 264 close contacts and Glen Allen High’s six cases resulted in 110 close contacts. The division is not differentiating cases this year by factors such as whether they are related to athletics or extracurricular activities, according to Robin Gilbert, head of school health services.

Last week’s HCPS COVID-19 update was the second weekly report after the school division transitioned away from daily reports. The decision to move to weekly updates came as the school division encountered issues with the accuracy of case data.

The update was posted to the school division’s website on Friday, but the data was updated on Tuesday after the school division learned of errors. The aim is still to update the numbers at one time each Monday, according to a division spokesman.

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Anna Bryson is the Henrico Citizen's education reporter and a Report for America corps member. Make a tax-deductible donation to support her work, and RFA will match it dollar for dollar.