14 Schools In Harford County Have COVID-19 Outbreaks: Officials

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — Coronavirus outbreaks have been reported in 13 public schools and one private school in Harford County, the Maryland Department of Health reported this week.

Youth's Benefit Elementary School has the most outbreaks of any school in the state, according to the state health data released Dec. 8. There are 101 outbreaks at the campus in Fallston.

Youth's Benefit Elementary canceled after-school activities and minimized movement of students around campus to stop the spread of the virus, according to a letter from the principal.

Youth's Benefit plans to provide another COVID-19 update Friday, Dec. 10.

There are 177 outbreaks in Harford County Public Schools and five outbreaks in one Harford County private school, according to the latest data on coronavirus outbreaks from the state for the week ending Dec. 8:

Harford County Public Schools

• Forest Hill Elementary School — 2
• Fountain Green Elementary School — 4
• Churchville Elementary School — 6
• Forest Lakes Elementary School — 3
• Jarrettsville Elementary School — 11
• Joppatowne Elementary School — 3
• Joppatowne High School — 11
• Harford Technical High School — 12
• Hickory Elementary School — 18
• Patterson Mill Middle School — 2
• Prospect Mill Elementary School — 2
• William Paca/Old Post Road Elementary School — 2
• Youths Benefit Elementary School — 101

Coronavirus metrics in Harford County Public Schools are also updated on a rolling basis on the HCPS COVID-19 dashboard.

Harford County Private Schools: The John Carroll School — 5

Every Wednesday, the state health department releases a list of K-12 schools with outbreaks of COVID-19. The data does not include child care facilities or higher education institutions.

To be reported in the list, a school must have a classroom/cohort outbreak or a school-wide outbreak, according to the Maryland Department of Health.

A classroom/cohort outbreak is defined as at least two confirmed cases of COVID-19 within 14 days that are epidemiologically linked, and are not household contacts.

A schoolwide outbreak is defined as at least three classrooms or cohorts with cases from separate households in 14 days; or 5 percent of unrelated students, teachers or staff (at least 10 who are unrelated) having tested positive for COVID-19 within a two-week period.

Schools will be removed from the list maintained by the Maryland Department of Health when 14 days have passed without any new cases or tests pending.