1 New Coronavirus Outbreak Reported In Oakland County Schools

OAKLAND COUNTY, MI — One new outbreak of the coronavirus has been reported in Oakland County schools, Michigan health officials said Monday.

One student and one staff member at Our Lady of Refuge previously tested positive for the coronavirus, according to data provided by state health officials.

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

• Bloomfield Christian School in Bloomfield Hills
• Glengary Elementary in Commerce Charter Township
• Wass Elementary in Troy
• Brandon High School in Ortonville
• Rochester High School in Rochester Hills
• Lawrence Tech University in Southfield
• Oakland University in Rochester

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: