Horry Schools students returned to class two weeks ago. More than 10% are quarantined
More than 10% of the Horry County Schools (HCS) student body is stuck at home due to COVID-19 infection or exposure just two weeks after returning to the classroom following the holiday break.
Of the 44,477 students enrolled in the district on the 135th day of the school year, 5,400 are in quarantine as of Monday afternoon morning, according to district data. That comes out to around 12% of the student body in isolation as the fast-spreading omicron variant takes its hold in South Carolina.
HCS currently records more than 1,300 COVID-19 cases in students and staff, 1,233 of which are students and 132 of which are staff. There are 269 staff members in quarantine, according to HCS data.
The district faces yet another surge in cases as the omicron variant has sparked record-breaking caseloads across South Carolina. Last fall was marked by the spike in cases and hospitalizations in the area due to the delta variant, landing more than a quarter of students in quarantine at the beginning of the school year.
HCS has since updated its quarantine guidelines to follow recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. By reducing the number of days a student or staff member is required to quarantine and accepting rapid test results, district leaders hoped fewer students would be out of school this time around.
But the omicron variant and holiday gatherings, along with relatively lax coronavirus precautions, raised concern for health experts in the area. An increase in cases after returning from the winter break was expected, spokesperson Lisa Bourcier told The Sun News.
“As predicted by national and state health officials, an increase in positivity rates was anticipated after the holidays,” Bourcier wrote in an email to The Sun News the week students returned to classes. “We are seeing this increase as well.”
COVID protocols in HCS schools, however, have stayed stagnant during the current increased spread. Masks aren’t required at any of the schools unless a person is within days six to 10 of testing positive, per CDC and DHEC recommendations.
