Six more coronavirus cases confirmed at Wake schools, pushing total to 10 this week

Officials at four Wake County schools announced coronavirus cases on Thursday, and a high school announced a case on Friday.

Posted 1:33 a.m. Oct 30, 2020 — Updated 9:10 p.m. Oct 30, 2020

Jason O. Boyd

, WRAL multiplatform producer

CARY, N.C. — Officials at four Wake County schools announced coronavirus cases on Thursday, and a high school announced a case on Friday.

That brings the total number of cases confirmed to at least 10 since students started to return to classes this week.

Officials at Alston Ridge Elementary School in Cary, West Millbrook Magnet Middle School in Raleigh, Cedar Forks Elementary School in Morrisville and Kingswood Elementary School in Cary each posted notices on their respective websites Thursday about the confirmed cases.

Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School reported a case on Friday, noting that the infected person was on campus Friday.

A message posted on the Alston Ridge Elementary website said, "We have been notified that an individual associated with our school has tested positive for COVID-19. This individual was last on our campus October 23, 2020.

"We are working closely with the Wake County Public Health Division and the individual to identify and notify anyone who may have been in close contact with the individual to provide them further instructions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines close contact as being 'within 6 feet of an infected person for a total of 15 minutes or more.'"

A similar message was posted on the West Millbrook Magnet Middle website, stating, "We have been notified that an individual associated with our school has tested positive for COVID-19. This individual was last on our campus October 26, 2020."

Cedar Fork Elementary's website states, "We have been notified that two individuals living in the same household, who are associated with our school have tested positive for COVID-19. They were last on our campus October 27, 2020."

Kingswood Magnet Elementary School also had a similar notice on its website of its coronavirus case, saying: "We have been notified that an individual associated with our school has tested positive for COVID-19. This individual was last on our campus October 27, 2020."

Students are currently not attending classes in person at Wake County middle schools, with the exception of West Millbrook Magnet Middle.

High schools also aren't holding any in-person classes right now.

Forest Pines Elementary School notified families on Wednesday that "an individual associated with our school" tested positive for the virus. The notice didn't say whether a student or a staff member was infected, only that the person was last at the school on Tuesday.

Three Wake high schools report coronavirus cases involving athletic departments

On Tuesday, Nick Stevens of HighSchoolOT.com reported three coronavirus infections at three Wake County high schools involving associates within the respective schools' athletic departments. Those schools were Fuquay-Varina High School, Heritage High School in Wake Forest and Panther Creek High School in Cary.

School district officials said Friday they don't plan to comment on individual cases, but Superintendent Cathy Moore said at a recent school board meeting that positive test results are to be expected.

"I want to pause and acknowledge the reality of our schools and the district being impacted by COVID-19 positive cases," Moore said. "We acknowledge and respect the anxiety that this reality may cause in our school community. This reality causes us to make sure we are taking every possible measure to reduce the risk and promptly respond to any confirmed case.”

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