Johnson County COVID-19 data still in ‘red’ zone as schools get closer to reopening
A week after Johnson County officials advised school districts that it was not safe to reopen schools, COVID-19 data updated Wednesday shows the county remains in the “red” zone.
The percent of tests returning positive remained above 10% and new cases are increasing, according to the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment’s website.
The health department released guidance to school districts last month on how to determine when it’s safe to bring students back to classrooms. The guidance is based on key metrics including the positivity rate — the average percentage of positive COVID-19 tests over a 14-day period
As of Wednesday, that stood at 10.5%. Last week it was 11.4%, according to the data.
In the past 14 days, the number of new coronavirus cases each day has been increasing, according to the health department. The county averaged 110.1 new cases over the past 14 days.
Meanwhile, new cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days is 144.1, according to the data.
Under the gating criteria Johnson County would be:
- Under the “green” zone when the rate of positive tests is at or below 5% and the number of new cases is steady or decreasing, at which point all students can learn in person with social distancing and other precautions.
- Under the “yellow” when positivity rate is less than or equal to 10% and the number of new cases is steady or decreasing. At that point, students could be brought back in a hybrid model, which would limit interactions and allow better social distancing.
- Under the “red” when the positivity rate is at or below 15% and number of new cases is steady or decreasing. At that point, online only learning is recommended with the exception for elementary students.
Online only learning is recommended when the positivity rate is above 15%.
For the most part, Johnson County school districts are following the health department’s recommendations for the start of the school year.
The Blue Valley school board had voted to reject that recommendation, but the district last week said it would begin the year following those recommendations anyway.
On Tuesday, the De Soto school board voted to bring all students back to classrooms part time, a reversal from a week earlier when the district had announced all students would start the school year online.
For most of the districts, school begins after Labor Day.
This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 1:18 PM with the headline "Johnson County COVID-19 data still in ‘red’ zone as schools get closer to reopening."
