Over 800 students, staff now told to quarantine in Georgia school district

Just one week after schools reopened in a northern Georgia school district, more than 800 of its students and staff have been told to quarantine.

Last week, the Cherokee County School District, about 44 miles north of Atlanta, told 20 people to quarantine when one 2nd-grader tested positive for the virus after the first day of school.

That number grew fast, and as of Monday night, the school has ordered 826 students to quarantine due to possible exposure, according to a list the district created.

The 42,000-student district lists about 40 cases in 19 elementary, middle and high schools, but it is unclear if all of those represent positive coronavirus tests or if some are of people who were just exposed to infected students or staff.

The district routinely does contact tracing to determine who may have been exposed to people who test positive for the virus, according to NBC affiliate WXIA in Atlanta.

A spokeswoman said in a statement Tuesday that the district anticipated ahead of schools reopening that "positive tests among students and staff could occur."

That "is why we put a system into place to quickly contact trace, mandate quarantines, notify parents and report cases and quarantines to the entire community," spokeswoman Barbara Jacoby said.

"We are not hesitating to quarantine students and staff who have had possible exposure to a student or staff member who has tested positive."

Cherokee County schools recommend but don't require students or staff to wear masks.

Ref: MSN