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A coronavirus database recently launched by the Orange County Health Care Agency shows a relatively low number of confirmed cases in schools since in-person teaching resumed in mid-August.
The agency’s dashboard for schools displays the cumulative number of confirmed cases per week from Aug. 19 to Nov. 14 for in-person education on the county’s elementary, middle and high school and college campuses. The dashboard says the cases involve residents of Orange County.
The agency reports 283 cases since August among elementary and secondary schools, and 107 for colleges and vocational schools.
This adds up to a total of 390 cases among students, faculty and staff, but does not yet appear to include an outbreak at Concordia University in Irvine reported over the weekend.
Based on last year’s enrollment figures, there are around 479,000 students enrolled in public schools (K-12) in Orange County, another 50,000 in private schools (K-12) and 122,000 in community college districts, according to the Department of Education.
These enrollment numbers don’t take into account universities such as Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine, and Chapman University, among others.
Since the start of the pandemic, many students have been taking distance education courses, but 390 cases appear to be well below 1% of the county’s student enrollment figures from last year.
“This is something we see to be true in our 27 public school districts,” said Nichole Pichardo, spokesperson for the Orange County Department of Education. “In all districts, it’s a low percentage of positive cases.”
On Wednesday, November 25, Capistrano Unified, the county’s largest school district, reported on its dashboard 23 active COVID-19 cases among its roughly 35,000 students and staff currently on campus. Several other school districts also have their own dashboards on their websites.
California’s Health and Human Service Agency secretary Dr Mark Ghaly provided an explanation of the success of schools fighting the coronavirus last week.
He attributed the efforts to forming cohorts, social distancing, masking and improving ventilation to build a “body of evidence” that schools can provide in-person instruction amid the pandemic.
“All of these things help reduce the risk, and on top of that, being able to provide a thorough investigation into the outbreak,” he said.
The Orange County Health Care Agency assists schools with their investigations and finding contracts. Schools are required to report their cases of coronavirus to the agency.
The agency’s dashboard reports 80 cases among teachers, 106 among school staff and 204 among students. It can be found at occovid19.ochealthinfo.com.
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