MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Health officials in Kansas’ largest county are making it easier for older students to head back to class even as coronavirus outbreaks in schools and sports infect hundreds statewide.
Johnson County’s health department released new criteria Thursday that allow middle and high schoolers to switch to a hybrid mode in which they go in-person part of the time and learn at home the rest as long as there are safety precautions in place such as masks and daily symptoms screenings, The Kansas City Star reports. Health officials previously said that younger students could return to classrooms full-time.
The move comes as the suburban Kansas City county averaged 113 new cases each day last week, which was the third highest new case count since the pandemic began, epidemiologist Elizabeth Holzschuh said. And cases have been rising among children under the age of 19 and showing up in schools.
Even with many students still learning online, 104 of Johnson County’s 169 public schools, or more than 60%, have implemented at least one quarantine after a COVID-19 exposure, officials said.
“We know there will be cases,” Holzschuh told the board of commissioners at its weekly meeting Thursday. “This is not surprising to us. The goal is not to have that widespread transmission and those cases pop up throughout the school.”
The final decision on whether to move from remote to hybrid learning for older students will be made by the county’s individual school districts, which have been the focus of ongoing protests demanding that all students be allowed to learn in person, five days a week.
Statewide, Kansas added 1,362 new confirmed and probable cases from Wednesday to Friday, bringing the total to 61,111. Kansas also added 20 more deaths, raising the overall number since the pandemic began to 698. However, the number of coronavirus cases is thought to be higher because people can be infected without feeling ill and because of limited testing early in the pandemic.
Among the cases, health officials are blaming 87 outbreaks on K-12 schools, colleges and athletics, with 1,209 infections.
Despite the rise, the University of Kansas was preparing to play its first football game before fans, allowing up to 10,000 into Booth Memorial Stadium for its homecoming game against Oklahoma State, The Kansas City Star reports.
And Kansas State was preparing for its second game with fans as it plays host to Texas Tech. Earlier this month, the Wildcats welcomed 11,040 spectators into a stadium with a normal capacity of 50,000 for a game against Arkansas State.
“For the most part everything went well and we learned a lot,” said Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor.