Horry County Schools suspends meal program after several employees contract coronavirus
With several Horry County Schools employees testing positive for COVID-19, the district will suspend operation of its meal program consisting of 13 grab-and-go meal sites and bus meal pick-up locations for the next two weeks beginning Thursday.
As of Wednesday, three Horry County attendance areas — Conway, Socastee and North Myrtle Beach — have been impacted by employees who have tested positive for the coronavirus, and multiple employees working in the meal program have had to self-quarantine as a result of their direct contact with individuals who received positive test results either last week or Wednesday.
The newest confirmed case is in North Myrtle Beach.
At least four employees have tested positive for the coronavirus and one, a bus driver, has died, according to school board chair Ken Richardson.
The district will assess the meal program following the two-week suspension of service. Parents are asked to monitor the district’s website and social media concerning notifications of when, or if, meal service can resume during this public health emergency.
S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster has extended K-12 school closures in the state through the end of April, which takes the school district through its two-week suspension of the meals program on April 30.
The meal program began March 16 and has enabled Horry County Schools to serve 166,072 meals to its students, according to the district.
This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Horry County Schools suspends meal program after several employees contract coronavirus."
