As the Aug. 12 start date for the new school year approaches, COVID-19 cases in Hamilton County are trending toward the phase two threshold. While in phase two, students would attend two days a week on campus and three days remotely.
The Hamilton County Schools reopening plan uses active COVID-19 case data from the Hamilton County Health Department to determine the school district’s phase at a particular time.
There is a transition area between each phase. The transition area between phases three and two is between 1,470 and 1,840 active cases.
While between phases, the school district also tracks the number of hospitalizations, patients in ICU in hospitals and other criteria. This data determines the phase within which the district operates while case numbers are in the transition range.
In early July, the number of active cases in Hamilton County remained below 1,470 cases (0.4% of the population of Hamilton County), which put the county’s schools in phase three.
However, data from last week trended upward, indicating the community is moving close to meeting the criteria for phase two.
As of July 21, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Hamilton County was NUMBER, according to reports from the Hamilton County Health Department.
A chart displaying the current phase and number of active COVID-19 cases in Hamilton County is located at www.hcde.org/safeschools/hcs_reentry_and_continuous_learning_plan.
This chart will allow the community to track how the health situation changes as the county moves closer to the start of school and how that might impact the delivery of instruction for students.
“We are hopeful personal protective measures put in place in the community in the last few weeks, including the wearing of masks or face coverings, will reverse the trend and active cases will decline,” Hamilton County School says in a statement.
The district will continue to track active case data from the health department and share regular updates with the public.
Source: Hamilton County Schools