COVID-19 cases among children in Union County
News August 23, 2021
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – As the Delta Variant spreads in Union County and Georgia, confirmed cases in children continue to outpace previous COVID-19 strains.
On August 12, Union County reported a total of 245 confirmed cases in the 0 to 22 age group. One week later, the Department of Public Health recorded 21 new cases for the age range. For comparison, the case change from the August 6 report to August 13 was nine.
Union County from July 31 to August 13 documented 59 new cases total and has recorded 2,361 cases since last year.
The Delta Variant is highly contagious. Health professionals have compared its transmission rate to chickenpox spread. The number of COVID-19 cases in children jumped over 1,100 percent when Delta hit Georgia.
“In a completely unmitigated environment—where no one is vaccinated or wearing masks—it’s estimated that the average person infected with the original coronavirus strain will infect 2.5 other people,” Dr. F. Perry Wilson, a Yale Medicine epidemiologist, says. “In the same environment, Delta would spread from one person to maybe 3.5 or 4 other people.”
Several schools started back at the beginning of August, and the virus spread is evident. Union County Primary had to close its building for this week because too many teachers were out sick. UCS 2021-2022 school year started on August 12. The previous week Towns County Elementary closed for the same reason too many ill staff.
The Department of Public Health (DPH) keeps track of COVID-19 in children and release school-age data each week. A breakdown of Union County’s 14-day case rate for children indicated significant increases in the school-age group.
8/12 Union County Case Report
- 0-4 – 1 case
- 5-17 – 9 cases
- 18-22 – 3 cases
- 23+ – 73 cases
8/20 Union County Case Report
- 0-4 – 5 cases (+4)
- 5-17 – 17 cases (+8)
- 18-22 – 8 cases (+5)
- 23+ – 115 cases (+42)
While DPH doesn’t provide a county-by-county breakdown of hospitalizations, it includes statewide data on the topics. These reports come out every week and cover two weeks of data.
DPH COVID-19 in Children graph
Emergency room visits related to COVID-19 in children are spiking along with respiratory-related visits. However, hospitalizations appear to have taken a turn downward in most age groups.
Statewide the 5-17 age range is facing the most significant spike in the school-age report. When broken down, 5-10 and 14-17 are experiencing a laboratory higher case rate than 11-13. It’s unclear why from the information provided by the DPH.
Union County Schools COVID-19 Procedures
Union County Schools have procedures regarding positive cases, close contact, quarantine, isolation, and seating charts to try and keep its students safe.
A close contact student, who’s within three feet of a positive case, must quarantine for five days.
Positive students must quarantine for ten days and may return to school after symptoms end or 24 hours without a fever or fever-reducing medicine.
None of these students can participate in extracurricular, after-hours, or athletic activities.
Potentially exposed employees can still work under the essential worker status. If they exhibit any COVID-19 related symptoms, they must inform their supervisor, and essential worker status will be revoked. These individuals must quarantine for ten days from the onset of symptoms.
For the time being, the parents can decide on the necessity of a mask. On Friday, August 20, Assistant Superintendent Dr. David Murphy told FYN that a mask mandate is a “diametrically opposed issue. Families have determined what they feel is best for them. We believe that wearing a mask is the parent/student’s right to choose.”
Additionally, Murphy explained the elementary, middle, high, and Woody Gap Schools aren’t experiencing the same staff absenteeism as the primary school.
COVID-19 K-12 breakdown from DPH
The Primary had nearly four times the percentage of teachers absent than its closest school by comparison. They simply didn’t have enough staff to operate the building effectively.
Pfizer vaccine was fully approved for individuals who are 16 and older on Monday, August 23. Children 12 and older can also receive a vaccine under emergency use authorization.
Children younger than 12 haven’t been cleared to take the vaccine yet. It’s currently undergoing testing.
L4GA grant brings literacy to all local children
Board of Education, Community, Panther's Corner July 29, 2020
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) awarded Union County School System (UCS) $3.2 million over five years to advance literacy efforts.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Paula Davenport was instrumental in UCS receiving the L4GA grant.
As a recipient of the Literacy for Learning, Living, and Leading in Georgia (L4GA) grant, UCS will focus on creating plans for children from birth to 12th grade. Additionally, the school will partner with the community to effectively reach all local children.
UCS was at the top of the list to receive the grant, according to Assistant Superintendent Dr. Paula Davenport.
GaDOE considers “the poverty level of a community, the percentage of students reading below grade level, the recent rate of growth in the number of students reading above grade level, and whether a school is identified for support from the Department of Education’s School Improvement team.”
From a GaDOE release on the program:
“Introduced in 2016, L4GA is a unique approach to improving literacy that pairs community-driven action with research-proven instruction. In its first round, funded by a federal Striving Readers grant of $61.5 million, 38 school districts partnered with early learning and care providers as well as community organizations to implement community efforts and improve classroom instruction. By working together, schools, early learning providers and caretakers, and community leaders are moving the needle on literacy – in 2019, third-grade students showed significant gains in English Language Arts and grade-level reading.”
UCS has developed a slogan for the program “literacy is for everyone” or “LIFE” for short. Assistant Superintendent Dr. Davenport explained the school will develop tailored programs to meet each child’s interest from digital books to picture books and graphic novels.
“Whatever it takes to get a child to read,” she added.
Davenport also spoke about how literacy is more than just reading; it’s drawing, listening, and writing. Each area of focus will help children gain a holistic understanding and appreciation of literacy.
The public library, daycare programs, families, and businesses will play an essential role in granting greater access to materials. For instance, parents will be encouraged to read bedtime stories to their children.
With the first planning meeting this week, the initial implementation of the L4GA program will probably be adaptable due to COVID-19. The first year might become more digital to protect the health of everyone involved.
UCS students have scored highly in literacy in the past, but low in writing. Davenport hopes the holistic approach of the L4GA program will lead to an improvement in writing scores as well. Typically, the school uses Milestone test scores to judge students’ abilities, but currently, the most recent data is from 2018-2019. Georgia canceled the Milestone tests for 2019-2020 and could do the same in 2020-2021 because of COVID-19.
L4GA brings together the entire community to support the whole child.
Teams from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Georgia State University will be collecting data from L4GA districts to document positive practices and gauge the overall impact of the L4GA Project.
A total of 23 schools received the grant for 2019. The award total was $22,101,554.
L4GA 2019 Grantees: Burke County Schools, Butts County Schools, Charlton County Schools, Clayton County Schools, Cook County Schools, Elbert County Schools, GaDOE State Schools, Glascock County Schools, Grady County Schools, Haralson County Schools, Lanier County Schools, Liberty County Schools, Newton County Schools, Paulding County Schools, Pike County Schools, Pulaski County Schools, Rockdale County Schools, Terrell County Schools, Toombs County Schools, Treutlen County Schools, Troup County Schools, Union County Schools, Vidalia City Schools.
https://youtu.be/wLImaVwmWPM?t=1317“School districts selected for the first round of L4GA funding made great strides in student literacy learning,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. “I’m eager to see the progress made by our new grant recipients in the coming years. Making sure students are reading on grade-level remains mission-critical, top-priority work for the Georgia Department of Education, and we continue to seek all possible opportunities to support that work at the school and district level.”
Keeping children entertained during Coronavirus
Community, Education March 14, 2020
UNION COUNTY, Ga – As a precaution against COVID-19, children across Union County, and much of North Georgia, are home for the week and potentially even longer. For parents or guardians looking for ways to keep their children entertained, the community is offering some options.
Those individuals responsible for children are advised to create a schedule in order to make the transition easier. However, don’t feel pressured to stick to do. Students obviously need to complete their COLD packets for the week, but structure will assist in keeping children on-track and focused.
Sample COVID-19 schedule, courtesy of Facebook parents.
Also, a child’s COLD packet might not take up an entire day, so it’s good to have options ready for that possibility.
Of course, it’s also important to keep children physically active when possible, if the day is nice, make time to play in the yard or create an activity space in the house.
Crafting is another way to keep children entertained if parents, guardians, or babysitters have the materials readily available.
As equally important is alone time, if everyone is stuck at home, it could quickly devolve into fight night. To prevent that from happening, try to schedule a time for everyone to separate for an hour or two. This way children and parents or guardians can entertain themselves in the manner they see fit.
Some additional online learning options are available outschool.com covers a wide range of topics and brainpop.com focuses on STEM courses. Scholastic is also offering 20 days of free learning courses for children.
Storyline Online is a free literacy program where celebrities read to K-5 children and associated activities.
Local options
Blairsville Dance is offering online streaming classes to their students and opening several to the community for free. Children two and up can sign up, just follow the link.
The Art Department Studio is offering an in-person art camp for children from 9 to 13 for $35 per day from March 16 to 20 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The businesses said a 10 a.m. drop off is fine and an early pick-up with prior notification. Parents or guardians are asked to send children with lunch, snacks, and drinks and to not enroll a child who is feeling sick.
“We have soap and water and kids will be washing hands regularly, but feel free to send them with hand sanitizer if you wish. Also, we must be notified of any allergies. A parent/guardian will be requested to read/fill out/sign a form with your information. For info or to sign up, call the studio at (706)225-9713 or stop by! We are in Victoria’s plaza by the movie theatre/bowling alley. Thank you and stay healthy!” – The Art Department
Fetch Your News will continue to update this article with more opportunities as they become available.