JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – At least 19 students at Clay High School have reported COVID-19 cases since early September, according to state data.
The number of coronavirus cases at Clay High, as well as every other school in the state, were updated by the Florida Department of Health this week to show a total of 21 cases at the Green Cove Springs school as of Oct. 10. That’s the highest number of any school in Clay County. It’s also part of a larger trend of higher case numbers at area high schools when compared to the number of cases being reported in elementary and middle schools.
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The Florida Department of Health is only reporting coronavirus cases that were counted between Sept. 6 and Oct. 10 even though many schools in the state returned to classes in August.
According to the Clay County School District’s website, there were 14 students and four staff members that had active cases last week. Those led to 274 quarantines.
Clay High volleyball and football games were canceled in September after members of multiple teams were quarantined due to potential COVID-19 exposure and the Keystone Heights football team was out of action through Oct. 9 due to COVID-19 issues. There were seven reported cases at Keystone Heights Junior/Senior High as of Oct. 10.
State data shows that the total number of reported cases in Clay County, with more than 38,000 students and 2,400 teachers, has increased from 44 to 97 since Sept. 26.
In Duval County, San Pablo Elementary School in Jacksonville Beach has reported 23 cases in six weeks. The bulk of those cases (18) involve students and four cases involve teachers.
The Florida Department of Health has reported a total of 223 cases in Duval County schools between Sept. 6 and Oct. 10. The total number of cases has increased by 128 since Sept. 26, an increase of 134%.
Those numbers are sure to go up after the school district announced Wednesday evening there have been at least 16 cases reported at Fletcher High School in Neptune Beach. The outbreak means that beginning Thursday, students at the school will be learning at home through at least Monday.
The DCPS COVID-19 dashboard had reported just five cases at the school since Aug. 20, as of Tuesday.
A spokesperson for Duval County schools said the number of total cases on the district’s dashboard doesn’t match what the state is reporting because the dashboard only reports Duval County Public School employee or student cases impacting school operations, not the total number of employees or students diagnosed with COVID-19. Additional cases may be students or staff that are working or learning remotely.
There have been a total of 122 COVID-19 cases reported in St. Johns County, according to the Department of Health. That’s an increase of 53 cases since Sept. 26. As of last week, there were 15 students in the county with reported active cases and 649 students on quarantine, the district reported.
Here are the schools with the most cases in Northeast Florida counties:
- Alachua County: Newberry High School, 15 cases
- Baker County: Baker County Senior High School, 20 cases
- Bradford County: Bradford High School, 9 cases
- Columbia County: Columbia High School, 13 cases
- Clay County: Clay High School, 21 cases
- Duval County: San Pablo Elementary School, 23 cases
- Flagler County: Old Kings Elementary School, 11 cases
- Nassau County: Yulee High School, 10 cases
- Putnam County: Hillcrest Academy, 10 cases
- St. Johns County: Nease High School, 14 cases
- Union County: Union County High School, 12 cases
For the breakdown for every school in the state, see the full report from the Florida Department of Health below or visit the website.
