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Georgia’s largest school district is reporting that 260 employees have either tested positive for coronavirus or are in quarantine due to possible exposure.
Gwinnett County Public School teachers were pre-planning their classrooms last Wednesday. The following day, news outlets found out about the employees who had been sent home.
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According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the number has varied due to contact tracing measures that are in place in the county.
“Through tracing, we know that the majority of these cases are the result of community spread, meaning we have people who have called in to report who have not been at school or work,” said Gwinnett spokeswoman Sloan Roach.
The district has said that there are safety protocols in place including cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces.
(Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Usher’s New Look Foundation)
“We have reporting and tracing processes in place. We also have a protocol for excluding employees who are positive or are a contact,” said Roach. “In addition, there are protocols for making reports to the Health Department when there are two or more related cases.”
Gwinnett County has over 14,000 cases of COVID-19 and 209 deaths.
On Monday, the county reversed its decision for in-person classes and announced online school.
According to CNN, Roach said the decision was made “due to the current COVID-19 situation in our county and the rising number of cases in Gwinnett County.”
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“We had hoped and wanted to start the school year in-person. We had planned to serve students in that manner, as well as digitally,” Roach said.
“However, out of concern for our students, families, and employees, we had to make the very difficult decision to start entirely digitally. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation in Gwinnett County, using that information to determine when we can safely pivot to in-person instruction.”
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