Cobb Schools Not Updating COVID Case Counts As District Reviews Public Health Protocols

COBB COUNTY, GA — The Cobb County School District has not updated its COVID-19 case count data for about a month, and the web page will continue to remain outdated until the district's recently-changed public health protocols are no longer "under review."

Throughout the 2020-21 school year and all last fall, CCSD updated the active and cumulative COVID-19 cases at each school every Friday on the COVID Case Notification page. But the district's COVID-19 data webpage hasn't been updated since Dec. 17, the last day of the semester and just five days before county leaders issued a declaration of emergency due to surging COVID-19 cases.

A district spokesperson attributed the delay in new COVID-19 data to recent public health guideline changes in the district and across the state.

Earlier this month, CCSD officials announced the district no longer contact traces all suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases. Additionally, all CCSD staff — including teachers — who test positive but are asymptomatic will return to work immediately, regardless of vaccination status, as long as they wear a mask for 10 days and do not develop symptoms.

The changes came just after Gov. Brian Kemp and Dr. Kathleen Toomey, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health, penned a letter to school leaders relaxing the state's guidance for quarantining and contact tracing.

"Recent changes to our public health protocols, and their impact on accurate COVID-19 case counts, are under review," a district spokesperson told Patch via email Tuesday. "Once determined, we will provide an update on our COVID-19 webpage about what process we will use going forward."

Read more:

• Cobb Schools Eases COVID Protocols As State Guidance Relaxes
  
• COVID-19 State Of Emergency, Mask Mandate Issued In Cobb Again

At the time of the policy changes, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said they will "greatly assist" the district in keeping classrooms open for in-person learning, and cited the burden for district staff to trace each positive COVID-19 case.

As of Tuesday, Cobb County reported 1,616 confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 county residents over the last two weeks, according to GDPH data — significantly higher than the "high-risk for community transmission" standard of 100 cases per 100,000 residents.

Policy changes could be discussed at Thursday's school board meeting, which includes 2 p.m. work session, followed by an executive session and a 7 p.m. official board meeting with public comment.