Sumter School District reports new highs for weekly cases, quarantined staff

After recording 440 positive COVID-19 cases among students and staff during the first week of January, Sumter School District had 491 virus cases last week.

That total is a new weekly high for the district this school year, and Sumter also had a new high last week for total staff in quarantine with 217, according to data released Thursday by the district.

The high case totals and quarantined staff associated with the rapid spread of the highly contagious omicron variant forced eight schools to shift to remote learning in the second week back from the Christmas and winter break. This week, all or portions of nine schools in the district are in remote learning temporarily.

Additionally, the number of students directed to quarantine in week 2 of January spiked to 2,954 from 2,161 in the first week, an increase of 36.7%.

The quarantine totals for students and staff include positive virus cases and also "close contacts" after school officials performed contact tracing.

The quarantined student total of 2,954 is the second-highest weekly tally this school year and represents about 19.8% of district enrollment, or about one in every five students.

The case totals come after the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control revised its school COVID-19 guidance again on Sunday.

The new guidance shortens the length of time staff members must quarantine after being exposed to the virus and relaxes testing requirements for students in quarantine.

The intention and hope is that the new guidance will combat staffing shortages as school districts across South Carolina struggle to stay open for in-person learning.

Shelly Galloway, the local district's executive director of communication and community engagement, said Thursday that administration has not implemented any of the new guidance and is still reviewing the recommendations.