DSHS adds school district reported COVID-19 cases to public website

In collaboration with the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) last week posted on the DSHS website the statewide number of cases of COVID-19 reported by Texas public schools. The reported count of on-campus student cases of COVID-19 in the state’s public schools is 2,344 out of an estimated 1.1 million students who have been on campus for instruction or activities since the beginning of the 2020-21 school year. The total count of on-campus staff cases during the same period is 2,175.

As schools have reconvened over the past two months with in-person learning for the first time since March, the TEA has required public notices from districts when there has been a positive case within the district. Beginning tomorrow, excel files for state level and district level data will be made available on the DSHS website. This will make available COVID-19 case information by school district.

TEA previously directed all school districts to submit information about COVID-19 cases going back to the start of the school year. Information is submitted via an online form each Monday by those school systems that were notified in the previous week that a student, teacher, or staff member who participates in any on-campus activity has tested positive for a current COVID-19 infection. Antibody tests, which indicate a previous infection, are not required to be reported.

For the rest of the story, see the Sept. 23 edition of The Graham Leader.