More than 1,300 students in Indiana schools have tested positive for COVID-19. That’s according to preliminary figures shared during state officials’ COVID-19 press conference Wednesday. At least 274 teachers have tested positive, as well as 276 staff members.
State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box stressed that these numbers are just a historical snapshot. “Schools have been entering the historical data into our portal since last Friday,” Box explained. “So far, we’ve received data from about 2,000 schools, over 70 percent of our schools. We know that there are others that are still submitting data, and we want to ensure that every school can do this. So if you haven’t heard from us, please, to get access to this portal, contact us.”
So far, 1,117 schools reported having no COVID-19 cases, while 929 said they’d had at least one.
The Indiana Department of Health is working to assemble those statistics into a new school COVID-19 dashboard. Dr. Box said it will be similar to the one developed for long-term care facilities. “It will show you new student cases, new teacher, and new staff cases,” she said. “It will show you total positive student cases and teacher and staff cases. You’ll also be able to filter by your school, so that you can look at your individual school. You’ll also be able to look at a map where all the positive cases in schools have been reported across the state.”
Box hopes to be able to launch the school COVID-19 dashboard sometime around next Wednesday, but she doesn’t expect that every school will have turned in its data by then.
