Confirmed COVID cases in Miami-Dade schools tops 250, while Broward nears 150
Miami-Dade public school students are in their fourth week of in-person learning, and confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the district have topped more than 250.
The breakdown is 74 employees and 177 students as of Tuesday, according to the school system’s online dashboard that’s keeping track of cases in schools.
That’s 50 confirmed cases since Friday.
The actual number is likely significantly higher, however, since there is a lag time between when a person self reports and when the Florida Department of Health confirms the diagnosis. Only after the Health Department confirmation does a case appear on the dashboard.
On Monday, the district added 25 students to the dashboard, the highest addition since Oct. 20, when 29 pupils were counted on the ledger.
The district on Friday released a statement saying officials expect continued COVID cases as students go through the school year, but it is being “proactive” and “implementing all necessary mitigation measures as soon as cases are reported.”
These include not only requiring the person who tested positive to quarantine at home, but also tracing those who may have been in contact with that person and requiring them to isolate away from the school.
Slightly more than half of Miami-Dade’s roughly 255,000 students in traditional public schools opted to return to the classroom since the district reopened to in-person learning on Oct. 5, officials said. The rest are continuing to learn online at home like they have since coronavirus lockdowns were instituted nationwide in March.
The numbers on the dashboard do not include the 28 Miami-Dade County charter school staff and students, as well as the 95 private school employees and pupils, that have tested positive for the virus between Sept. 6 and Oct. 17.
The Florida Department of Health released those cases last week. An updated list is expected to be released later this week.
Broward public schools, which updates its COVID numbers every Tuesday and Friday, reported this week that there are 149 cases — 75 students and 74 staff members.
That is up from 106 confirmed cases Friday. The virus has impacted 93 of the district’s 247 schools.
Between 20 and 25% of Broward’s more than 225,000 students returned to public schools a few days after Miami-Dade schools reopened.
The Keys has maintained its official COVID case numbers since Friday, with 18 cases — 15 students and three employees, including two teachers, according to the Florida Keys online dashboard.
