Utica School Among Sites Of New Coronavirus Outbreaks: State

UTICA, MI — A school in Utica is among sites where state health officials on Monday said new outbreaks of the coronavirus have been reported.

Two students at Trinity Lutheran School have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to data released by the state.

In total, the state said 21 schools are sites of new outbreaks of the virus.

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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.

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