COVID surge prompting school officials to switch
The Elbert County School District (ECSD) will transition to virtual learning Thursday, Sept. 2 and Friday, Sept. 3 due to the current surge in coronavirus cases and subsequent quaratines, ECSD Superintendent Jon Jarvis announced in a press release Monday afternoon.
"The number of students/employees quarantined from direct contact and from symptoms or positive tests has greatly affected the daily operations of our schools and transportation," Jarvis said in the press release. "Given the increasing rate of positive cases and a bus fuel disruption resulting from Hurricane Ida, all schools will have virtual instruction for Thursday, Sept. 2, and Friday, September 3. School will return to normal face-to-face operations on Tuesday, Sept. 7."
The districtwide COVID-19 weekly update from the ECSD for Friday, Aug. 27, which is updated every Friday at 3 p.m. and posted on the school’s social media as well as The Elberton Star Facebook page, recorded 58 students with positive cases and 10 employees with a positive case. 329 students and three employees were quarantined due to exposure.
The previous week on Aug. 20, the ECSD reported 25 students and two employees with a positive COVID-19 status and 107 students and two employees quarantined.
"Please know that I do understand the impact school closing for face-to-face instruction has on our community," Jarvis continued. "We have been successful in providing face-to-face instruction since Aug. 4, and our plan is to return on Sept. 7 and finish the first semester strong with face-to-face instruction. This decision was carefully considered and made in consultation with principals, district leaders and area healthcare professionals."
Jarvis said teachers and staff will continue to report in-person to provide virtual instruction and extracurricular activities will continue as scheduled. Breakfast and lunch will also be available for families or students to pick up at any school between 11 and 11:30 a.m. both days.
Before Jarvis’ announcement, Elbert County Comprehensive High School Principal Josh Rider announced Aug. 25 that the Devils’ Aug. 27 home opener against Whitefield Academy was canceled “due to the growing number of positive cases and quarantines from exposure.”
“We believe it is in the best interest of all parties involved to cancel at this time,” Rider wrote in a release addressed to “Blue Devil Nation.” “We hope that all of those diagnosed with COVID make a quick recovery and that those quarantined for exposure remain healthy. We continue to remain hopeful that the effects of the virus will diminish so that we can safely return to our regularly scheduled activities.”
The high school announced later Wednesday afternoon that the junior varsity football game scheduled for Thursday at Washington-Wilkes had also been canceled as well as the volleyball team’s game at Stephens County.
The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) announced Aug. 27 that dozens of Georgia hospitals were announcing diversion status due to the surge in coronavirus cases, according to the DPH.
The diversion for hospitals temporarily affects the hospital’s ability to provide normal emergency care to patients transported to the hospital via ambulance services.
Diversion does not apply to individuals seeking emergency medical care and those experiencing a medical emergency should still dial 9-1-1 and ask for assistance, according to DPH.
According to the statewide hospital diversion website used by emergency services departments, Elbert Memorial Hospital’s emergency department was at normal operational status as of Monday morning.
COVID-19 cases reported in Elbert County over the past two weeks are on levels that haven’t been recorded since January, a trend being seen across the state according to the daily status report released by the DPH.
The last highest recorded day of COVID-19 cases for the county was Jan. 23 with 16 reported cases. On Aug. 29, that number was equivalent. The last highest recorded day in the state was Jan. 8 with 10,173 cases reported in one day. On Aug. 28, the number was 9,760.
As of Aug. 30, 105 cases were reported within Elbert County in the past two weeks.
Since the start of the pandemic, the DPH recorded that Elbert County has had 1,717 total confirmed cases, 60 deaths and 15 probable deaths and 143 hospitalizations as of Aug. 30.
Elbert Memorial Hospital Chief Executive Officer Kerry Trapnell announced Monday, Aug. 23 that the authority board’s regular meeting scheduled for the next day was postponed due to “the rapid increase in positive COVID cases locally and all around us.”
The Medical Center of Elberton (TMCE) announced the same day on their Facebook page that they were “currently overwhelmed with the amount of patients being seen each day.”
“We ask for patience as we are working as fast as we can to see each patient,” the post continued. “We are short on supplies for Rapid COVID testing and it will be at the doctor’s sole discretion which testing method is appropriate.”
TMCE previously posted Aug. 17 that their office was at full capacity and suspended after-hours at the clinic for the day.
According to the DPH vaccine distribution dashboard, 40 percent of Elbert County has received at least one dose of a vaccine as of Aug. 30 and 35 percent of the county has been fully vaccinated.
Elbert County’s numbers are almost 10 percent lower than the state as a whole on both sets of numbers. The DPH recorded that 50 percent of the state had received at least one dose of the vaccine by Aug. 30 and 43 percent had been fully vaccinated.
The DPH has also started releasing state-wide statistics for COVID-19 cases among those who have been fully vaccinated.
From Jan. 1 through Aug. 24, 25,040 fully vaccinated people tested positive for COVID-19 while 1,009 had been hospitalized for any reason, according to the DPH. There have been 168 deaths due to COVID-19 of vaccinated individuals.
The DPH asks that due to the overcrowding and diversion status of many hospitals in the state that those seeking COVID-19 testing refrain from using local hospital emergency departments.
Test locations can be found on the DPH website at https://dph.georgia.gov/covidtesting.
Both Walgreens and CVS pharmacies are listed on the DPH website under locations in Elberton.
DPH urges Georgians 12 and older “to get vaccinated and wear a mask in public settings where social distancing is not possible and wash their hands frequently.”