COVID-19 cases at Pinellas County school on first day back

According to Fox 13 News, on the first day back to classes, Pinellas County Public Schools announced three students and three employees across five schools have tested positive for COVID-19.

The school district did not say if any of the six who tested positive attended in-person classes Monday.

The schools that were impacted are Northeast High School, Pinellas Park Elementary School, Carwise Middle School, Shore Acres Elementary School, and Walter Pownall Service Center.

Last week, Manatee County schools reported three cases at two of its schools during the district’s first week back to class.

Meanwhile, more than 700 coronavirus cases have been linked to K-12 schools and higher education institutions over the course of two weeks as students and employees began returning to campuses across the state, according to a Florida Department of Health report released Monday.

The report breaks down the number of cases tied to elementary, middle and high schools, as well as colleges, universities and trade schools. Altogether, 714 people, including students and employees, have tested positive for COVID-19 since Aug. 10, according to the report.

The cases reflect a two-week period in which thousands of students throughout the state returned to classrooms or began moving into dorm rooms at colleges and universities.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran have been resolute in their weeks-long push to reopen K-12 schools and higher-education institutions in Florida, which has been one of the hardest-hit states by the coronavirus pandemic. Campuses shut down in March as the pandemic grew in Florida, forcing students to finish the spring through distance learning.

Fourteen of the cases have led to hospitalizations, with 85 percent of the hospitalizations tied to people who are 35 years old or older, according to the report. No children have been hospitalized after testing positive for the virus.

The state report, however, appears to be inconsistent with the number of infections that universities have reported in the last two weeks. For example, the state report says 90 students and 61 employees at universities, colleges and trade schools have tested positive for the virus, along with four “unknown” cases.

State officials did not explain their methodology in the report.