COVID clusters reported at 21 Triangle schools, mainly in Durham, Wake and Orange
The number of Triangle public and private schools reporting COVID-19 clusters rose slightly in this week’s state report.
Twenty-one area schools have active COVID-19 clusters, according to the latest North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services report released Tuesday. That’s up from the 19 Triangle schools that had clusters listed on last week’s DHHS report.
The report lists clusters at eight schools in Durham, six in Wake County, four in Orange County, two schools in Franklin County and one in Harnett County.
Coronavirus cases are dropping in North Carolina after a surge related to the delta variant, The News & Observer previously reported. But the virus is still a concern for many students because a vaccine is only approved for children 12 and older.
However, Pfizer could soon get federal approval to administer the vaccine to children ages 5 to 11, The N&O previously reported.
There’s a time lag between when cases are identified and when they are listed on the state report. Schools may currently have more or less COVID cases than are shown by DHHS. A cluster is defined as five or more linked cases in a 14-day period.
Clusters in Durham, Wake, Orange schools
In recent weeks, Durham has had more school clusters on the DHHS report than the much more populous Wake County.
The report lists ongoing clusters at Bethesda Elementary, Carrington Middle, Northern High and Sherwood Githens Middle in Durham Public Schools. Two Durham private schools were also listed: The Duke School and Immaculata Catholic School.
Two Durham charter schools were also listed: Central Park Charter and Research Triangle Charter Academy.
Vandora Springs Elementary and Wendell Elementary in the Wake County school system are on the latest state report.
Two Wake County charter schools are listed on the state report: Cardinal Charter Academy at Wendell Falls and East Wake Academy. Cardinal Charter is listed at 52 cases, but school officials have said that the information on the state report is outdated and that there hasn’t been a new case in several weeks.
Two Wake County private schools are also listed: Chesterbrook Academy North Raleigh and GRACE Christian School.
Three schools in the Orange County schools are on the state report: Central Elementary, Gravelly Hill Middle and New Hope Elementary. Franklin Porter Graham Elementary, which is part of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school system, is listed on the state report with 17 cases.
Clusters were also listed on the report at Crosscreek Charter and Franklinton Middle in Franklin County and Anderson Creek Primary in Harnett County.
