Cobb Schools Publishes COVID Data After Monthlong Delay, But Weekly Reports Will End Soon

COBB COUNTY, GA — The Cobb County School District published COVID-19 case counts, broken down by school, throughout the 2020-21 school year and for the entirety of 2021.

But the state's second-largest school district hadn't updated its COVID-19 data page since Dec. 17, the last day of the fall semester, citing changing reporting protocols — until Friday, when it finally posted new numbers.

For the week of Jan. 14 to Jan. 21, the district reported 1,856 positive COVID-19 cases; however, there was no more breakdown of cases by school, the district's cumulative case count total disappeared and there was no data report from the missed weeks between the start of the semester Jan. 5 and Friday.

Superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced the district's COVID-19 tracker will now post the weekly total of all confirmed cases "as a result of recent changes to the district's public health protocols and their impact on accurate COVID-19 case counts," according to a Friday statement.

Those changes include the district's announcement earlier this month, saying it would no longer trace all suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases, and all staff who have been exposed to COVID-19 but are asymptomatic will return to work immediately — they'll just have to wear a mask.

Those protocols are still "under review," a district spokesperson told Patch last Tuesday.

Related:

• Cobb Schools Not Updating COVID Numbers As Policy 'Under Review'
• Cobb Schools Eases COVID Protocols As State Guidance Relaxes

Additionally, CCSD's weekly case counts will not be published on the district's COVID-19 data page "after the omicron variant goes through," but will still be reported to the state and local health departments as required, Ragsdale said at a Thursday school board meeting, according to East Cobb News.

He said case counts should not be the primary emphasis, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the White House's chief medical advisor.

In an interview with MSNBC last month, Fauci said a critical component is how sick people are when they are infected with COVID-19, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Fauci went on to say that we can't forget about case counts, because that's a critical indicator "of what might happen with hospitalizations," but hospitalizations are the important factor.

“The bottom line is that we are having school and we are trying to get back to normal as quickly as possible. Because we know a normal school day for our students is what’s going to benefit them most," Ragsdale said Thursday.

After Ragsdale spoke, school board member Dr. Jaha Howard asked to discuss COVID-19 protocols, but Board Chair David Chastain told him he could call the superintendent with questions later, the AJC reported.