SLOCOMB, Ala. —Slocomb High and Middle schools will be going virtual for the remainder of this week due to an increase in positive COVID-19 cases among students, the school announced Tuesday.
A post on the Slocomb High School Facebook page asked parents to permit their children to check out and go home early, if possible.
Johna Cotton, southeastern district clinic director for the Alabama Department of Public Health said there were 14 confirmed positive cases among the students. Cotton said the schools will take the rest of this week to disinfect and thoroughly clean.
“This is the first outbreak like this we’ve seen in months, probably since January,” Cotton said. “Protocol hasn’t changed for contact tracing and cleaning and the nurses there are doing a great job at following all the procedures.”
Cotton said a year ago the district clinic was testing about 200 people a day and is now down to 3 per day.
Hinson said depending on the number of cases by the end of the week, the virtual switch could possibly extend.
“We want to keep our students safe and make the best decisions for them,” Hinson said.
