Student may have given virus to teacher

Officials: Orange probes possible 1st COVID-19 case caught in school

Orange County may have its first case of COVID-19 transmitted on a school campus, as face-toface instruction enters its second week for the nation’s eighth-largest public school district.

Dr. Raul Pino, the top state health official in Orange County, said a teacher, who tested positive through a rapid test, may have contracted the virus from an infected student. He said the health department is seeking a second test of the teacher to confirm the case because sometimes the rapid tests show false positives.

“Not that we’re doubting it, we’d like to confirm that,” Pino said at a Monday afternoon briefing, where he announced 29 confirmed cases among public school students and 23 confirmed cases among school staff in Orange.

Those cases emerged as Orange County is the healthiest its been since early June, with last week marking the first time in 11 weeks that the county tallied fewer than 1,000 new cases. It was also the first week since June 6 that the weekly positivity rate was below

“We would like people not to take this lightly. A holiday weekend is coming, and we know from Memorial Day what can happen if we let our guard down.”

Dr. Raul Pino, the top state health official in Orange County

5%, a level deemed manageable for hospital systems.

State data shows 4.92% of tests were positive in Orange County last week, down from 5.6% a week earlier.

Last week 6.4% were positive in Osceola, 5.5% in Lake and 4.1% in Seminole, state data shows.

Orange County also saw its lowest number of cases per 100,000 people since June, at 57.9 cases.

But the good news comes just days before the long Labor Day weekend, prompting officials to recall the spike in infections that followed Memorial Day weekend in May.

“We would like people not to take this lightly,” Pino said. “A holiday weekend is coming, and we know from Memorial Day what can happen if we let our guard down.”

If the transmission patterns hold from other places where schools opened before Orange, officials also expect to see an increase in school cases by next week or around the third week of face-to-face classes.

So far 30 students, including one who does not attend public school, have tested positive for COVID-19 — 16 since in-person classes started. All 23 of the confirmed cases among staff emerged since classes resumed on campuses. As a result, 143 people are in quarantine across seven schools because they may have come int contact with an infected person.

Schools affected include: East River High School, Piedmont Lakes Middle School, Lakeview Middle School, College Park Middle School, John Young Elementary School, NorthLake Park Community School and Sunset Park Elementary School.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said patience will be key in assessing school infections.

“It’s probably too early to draw broad-based assumptions of whether there’s been any impact in the opening of schools,” Demings said. “We’re just going to have to wait until the data comes in.”

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer announced the city council will vote next week on a rental assistance program using its remaining $1.5 million in federal CARES Act funding. The program will provide up to $10,000 per household to cover past-due rent and associated fees, and could help about 300 families, he said.

The program portal would open at 8 a.m. on Sept. 9 at Orlando.gov/COVID19.

Dyer also said he’s been in contact with Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles and the Orlando Magic about the NBA players’ desire for the Amway Center to be used as an early voting site.

Using NBA arenas and other sports venues has been among actions pushed by athletes, who sat out games at Walt Disney World last week to protest racial injustice and police brutality.

Dyer said an arrangement for the arena has not been finalized, but an announcement could come at the end of the week.