Manatee Schools Report 5 More Coronavirus Cases

BRADENTON, FL — The School District of Manatee County reported five new cases of the coronavirus since launching its school-specific dashboard last week.

Braden River High, Lee Middle and Southeast High each reported their first cases of the virus, according to the dashboard. Two elementary schools — Harvey Elementary and Williams Elementary — each reported one new case on top of the two previous cases reported by each of the schools previously.

District spokesman Michael Barber said school officials have coordinated their response to the coronavirus with the Florida Department of Health in Manatee County.

"When a confirmed COVID-19 cases has been identified as having recently been in our schools or district facilities, a portion or parts of of the campus is usually sanitized with a special disinfectant that is used in addition to the regular cleaning and sanitization done by the school’s custodial staff on a daily basis," Barber said.

The total number of cases reported by the district increased to 43 cases in 25 schools, up from 38 cases in 22 schools.

Barber said district employees and students are urged to stay home if they have any of the following symptoms:

• Fever of 100.4 or higher
• Sore throat
• Newly uncontrolled cough that causes difficulty breathing
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Abdominal pain or
• New onset of a severe headache (especially with a fever).

The school-specific dashboard was launched Thursday to provide transparency for parents of school children.

See related:

• Manatee Schools Report 38 Cases Of Coronavirus In 22 Schools

"The dashboard shows any positive cases identified on our school campuses," a district spokeswoman told Patch previously. You can view the dashboard here.

"In balancing privacy concerns with the public’s need to know, we have determined that providing a dashboard of confirmed cases by school still protects confidentiality, while providing important information related to specific schools," district officials said last week in announcing the dashboard.

The Manatee District’s dashboard displays the number of confirmed cases in individual Manatee District schools and support sites dating back to the start of school on Aug. 17.

The following Manatee schools were listed on the dashboard as of Tuesday morning with cases of the virus. Schools with new cases are shown in bold:

• Ballard Elementary: Two cases
• Bayshore Elementary: One case
• Blackburn Elementary: Two cases
• Braden River High: One case
• Braden River Middle: One case
• Gullett Elementary: One case
• Harvey Elementary: Three cases
• Lakewood Ranch High: One case
• Lee Middle: One case
• Lincoln Memorial Academy: One case
• Manatee High: Four cases
• MTC All Campuses: Five cases
• Mills Elementary: One case
• Moody Elementary: One case
• Nolan Middle: Two cases
• Palma Sola Elementary: Two cases
• Palmetto Elementary: One case
• Palmetto High: Two cases
• Parrish Community High: One case
• Samoset Elementary: Two cases
• Southeast High: One case
• Sugg Middle: One case
• Tara Elementary: Two cases
• Williams Elementary: Three cases
• Willis Elementary: One case

In addition to informing those individuals directly impacted, the school will send out a Connect-Ed phone message or email to all employees and parents to let them know there has been a confirmed case or cases on their campus and that there have been direct exposures if applicable.

"The Connect-Ed message sent out to the general school community does not contain details which violate laws under the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) or the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)," school officials said previously.