Here is your Cleveland, Tenn. | Bradley County, Tenn. news on mymix1041.com, sponsored by Toyota of Cleveland: From WRCB Channel 3… Tennessee classr
Here is your Cleveland, Tenn. | Bradley County, Tenn. news on mymix1041.com, sponsored by Toyota of Cleveland:
Tennessee classrooms and schools facing a surge in COVID-19 cases and quarantines can request a temporary shift to remote instruction if their districts can show a need, the state’s education commissioner said.
In a letter dated Friday, Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn said that while she remains committed to in-person instruction, schools and classrooms can now seek a waiver to state Board of Education rules that prevent districts from unilaterally requiring students to implement remote learning.
The letter comes as some school districts in Tennessee were forced to close due to an increase in coronavirus cases among students, faculty and staff. Wilson County Schools said in a news release Friday that schools will be shut down next week “to help slow the current trend of positive cases and quarantines.”
State Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey said Wednesday that children now make up 36% of Tennessee’s reported COVID-19 cases. According to researchers from Johns Hopkins, Tennessee ranked sixth in the country this week for new overall cases per capita. The rolling average number of daily new cases has increased by about 2,200, a jump of 75% over the past two weeks.
Republican Gov. Bill Lee issued an order Aug. 16 allowing parents to opt-out of school mask mandates for their children. But school districts in Shelby County, the state’s largest, and in Nashville are defying the order and still requiring K-12 students and staff to wear masks in school buildings.
From the Chattanooga Times Free Press…
Chattanooga hospitals CHI Memorial, Erlanger Health System and Parkridge Health System will no longer administer COVID-19 tests to patients with mild symptoms in their emergency rooms, according to a joint statement released on Friday.
The decision was made to allow staff to spend more time caring for an increasing number of patients suffering from medical emergencies such as chest pain, difficulty breathing, stroke symptoms or other conditions that require urgent medical attention. Patients with more significant symptoms such as worsening shortness of breath will still be tested, the release states.
People with mild symptoms such as a runny nose, persistent cough or change in taste and smell are encouraged to visit their local health department’s website for testing site locations.
In news today…
The latest COVID-19 case count in Bradley County Schools was released on Friday. There are 249 cases in Bradley County Schools. That’s an increase from the 102 cases in the last week’s report. Bradley Central leads the district at 52 cases, Ocoee Middle is next at 43. The Cleveland City school system will report their case numbers today at 10 AM.
Also in news today…
Polk County schools will be closed this week through September 3rd due to severe staffing shortages and student absences related to COVID-19 and other sickness. Students and staff will NOT be on remote learning due to regulations from the Governor’s office forbidding it. Polk County Schools most use inclement weather stockpiled days when the entire school system is closed.
In news today…
Bradley County Schools will begin Scenario 3 today as dictated by their COVID Safe Instruction Plan we covered in a story last week. Scenario 3 implements the relevant measures of Scenario 2, including enhanced cleaning, foot traffic controls, social distancing measures, and hand sanitation protocols, as well as adding implementation of temperature screening by nurses as needed, cohorting of students, having extracurricular activities reviews by the COVID Task Force, and forbidding visitors to the schools. As always, please continue to monitor your child each morning and keep him or her home if they are experiencing any symptoms.
