Kelly Hayes
The Hillsborough County School District reported its highest daily number of coronavirus cases within the county school system since the start of the school year, matching the trend of rising cases across the country.
The school district reported 79 new cases on Monday — 61 students and 17 staff members. This record shatters the previous daily high, which was reported on Nov. 9 at 56 cases, including 36 students and 20 employees.
High schools remain the hub of cases. Since the start of November, Sickles High School has reported 18 student cases and two staff cases, Steinbrenner High School has reported 17 student cases and three staff cases and Plant High School has reported 16 student cases and two staff cases.
Since the start of the school year on Aug. 31, the district has reported 1,289 cases, including 834 students and 455 staff members.
The district has seen 464 cases since the start of November, which is about halfway over. For reference, in the entire month of October, the district report 521 cases.
The numbers show that case counts have been steadily increasing as the school year advances. The month of October through the most recent report on Nov. 17, accounted for 76% of cases.
Individuals in contact with an individual on campus who tested positive must be quarantined, required to stay home for 14 days.
Students and employees listed in the dashboard since reopening have each been on campus, except for four students listed on the Aug. 31 report who had not on campus because it was the first day of school. The Hillsborough County COVID-19 dashboard updates every 4 hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The Hillsborough County School District has not released the number of individuals required to quarantine since the start of the school year. Neighboring Pasco County does report quarantines. For reference, as of Monday, that district showed 413 student and 153 employee cases with more than 7,300 students and 654 staff members affected by quarantines.
