2 New Coronavirus Outbreaks Reported In Wayne County Schools

WAYNE COUNTY, MI — Two new outbreaks of the coronavirus have been reported in Wayne County schools, state health officials said Monday.

A combination of four students and staff at Owen Intermediate School in Belleville previously tested positive for the coronavirus, according to data provided by the state.

Three staff at Salem High School in Canton also tested positive for the virus, officials said.

In addition to the two new outbreaks reported in Wayne County schools Monday, state data shows that 10 other Wayne County schools remain sites of ongoing coronavirus outbreaks. Those schools are:

• Earhart Elementary in Detroit
• Munger in Detroit
• St. Anselm School in Dearborn Heights
• Davidson Middle School in Southgate
• Canton High School in Canton
• Gabriel Richard High School in Riverview
• Plymouth Christian Academy in Canton
• Roosevelt High School in Wyandotte
• Western International in Detroit
• Schoolcraft College in Livonia

In all, 63 new COVID-19 outbreaks were reported in Michigan schools Monday.

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It's important to note that a coronavirus outbreak is different than a case. A COVID-19 outbreak is defined as two or more cases with a link by place and time indicating a shared exposure outside of a household.

The information provided by the state on Monday includes K-12, college and university school name, address, number of cases and if the cases involved staff, students or both. Students or staff exposed to COVID-19 outside the school building and are not thought to have spread the virus in the school due to quarantine or self-isolation are not included in the data.

Many factors, including the lack of ability to conduct effective contact tracing in certain settings, may result in underreporting of outbreaks, MDHHS said. This information does not provide a complete picture of school outbreaks in Michigan and the absence of identified outbreaks in a school does not mean it is not experiencing an outbreak.

The state recently has taken action to prevent spread of the coronavirus in schools. An order announced Sunday and which takes effect Wednesday prohibits high schools, colleges and universities from offering in-person instruction. K-8 schools can continue with on-site classes due to lower transmission rates. Those K-8 schools can decide if they want to opt for that route, however.

Here are the new coronavirus outbreaks reported by the state Monday: