NEW ORLEANS — More than 3,000 students and staff members at New Orleans public schools are in quarantine after possibly being exposed to COVID-19, according to NOLA-PS.
The school system updates its COVID case tracker on Monday afternoon. As of Aug. 16, it says they're tracking 299 "active cases" and have 3,004 people in quarantine.
NOLA-PS notes that the tracker shows cases among students and staff regardless of where they caught COVID-19.
The NOLA-PS COVID case tracker shows KIPP Morial with the 362 people in quarantine and 17 active cases, which is the most people in quarantine and the second most active cases in the school system.
Warren Easton high school has the most active cases with 21, but only 57 people in quarantine.
Louisiana has become a national hotspot for the spread of COVID-19's Delta Variant.
Louisiana reported 65 new deaths and 13,239 cases of COVID-19 cases over the weekend. The number of hospitalized with COVID-19 continues to climb, setting daily records. As of Sunday there were 2,956 patients hospitalized across the state. The health department says 90 percent of those patients are unvaccinated.
Gov. John Bel Edwards reinstated the statewide mask mandate on Aug. 4 which he said also applies to Louisiana schools. The state’s Attorney General Jeff Landry issued an opinion that BESE would have the final say on mask rules despite Edwards’ order.
BESE is expected to discuss the topic when it meets on Aug. 18.
In July, before the latest and record-setting wave of the virus, the board declined to enact statewide requirements, with board President Sandy Holloway saying that those decisions were best left to local school systems.
