More than 20 Rockbridge County students required to quarantine due to 3 positive COVID-19 cases

ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, Va. (WFXR) — More than 20 students from Rockbridge County Public Schools are under mandatory quarantine after three students tested positive for the coronavirus.

According to an announcement from the school district on Tuesday, Aug. 3, two student-athletes recently tested positive for COVID-19. Contact tracing efforts determined 20 students needed to quarantine as a result of these positive cases.

In addition, Rockbridge County Public Schools says that a student at Rockbridge County High School came back positive for the virus. After contact tracing was conducted, one student was required to quarantine.

School officials say they will keep working alongside the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) during the contact tracing process.

You can read the rest of the school district’s statement from Tuesday below:

“As defined by the VDH, a person classified as being exposed must have been in contact within 6 feet of a positive case, with or without a mask, for a total of fifteen minutes within a 24-hour period. A person who is in the same building as the positive case does not need to be quarantined unless advised to do so by the VDH. Due to State and Federal laws related to privacy, RCPS cannot identify or confirm the identity of individuals who test positive or who quarantine. RCPS continues to recommend all individuals self-monitor for symptoms and remain home when feeling ill.

RCPS continues to recommend that individuals wear face coverings while in public if not fully vaccinated, maintain proper social distancing, and wash their hands thoroughly and frequently. The Health Department will contact those individuals exposed to a positive case, determine if they meet criteria of a close contact, and if so, instruct them of their requirement to quarantine for 14 days following their most recent exposure to a case. This process is designed to identify all close contacts of a case, whether household, community, work, church, etc. to aid in containment of virus spread.

RCPS will continue to provide clear and concise information to the affected school community and will communicate as much information as possible to ensure public health safety while maintaining personal privacy. Please feel free to visit our RCPS COVID-19 Data Dashboard on the RCPS Return to Learn Page (https://www.rockbridge.k12.va.us/domain/262) to review current COVID conditions across our school division.”

Rockbridge County Public Schools

Rockbridge County students are set to kick off the new school year on Tuesday, Aug. 17.