ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A high school in Orange County is shuttering its doors for two weeks after at least six confirmed cases of coronavirus were reported at the school.
Olympia High School officials posted on social media the entire school would be going back to its online learning platform after six confirmed COVID-19 cases within the school. Another case is still pending, according to the school.
The school says all students will learn online from Sept. 8 through 18 just as the school did at the beginning of the year. Students who are participating in face-to-face learning will be able to return to school property Sept. 21. The school says all athletic events, extracurricular and co-curricular activities will be canceled during that time.
School leaders say they consulted with the Orange County Department of Health and are choosing to temporarily close the school out of an abundance of caution.
The school's decision comes after several reports this week the Florida Department of Health told county health officials to stop releasing information on COVID-19 cases in local schools because of confidentiality concerns.
Earlier this week, Orange County Health Officer Dr. Raul Pino told WFTV his department can no longer release the numbers of how many students, teachers and staff have COVID-19 in Orange County Schools because the DOH's legal staff considers the information "confidential."
Local news outlet WKMG received the following statement from DOH officials:
County health departments provide confidential COVID-19 information on positive individuals and close contacts to positive cases to schools, superintendents or other designated individuals in school districts as that has been determined to be necessary by the State Surgeon General. This information is considered confidential under section 381.0031(6), Florida Statutes, and rule 64D-3.036, Florida Administrative Code.
WFTV reports the information can only come from school districts, if they choose to release it. Orange County school officials say they will continue to release data on COVID-19 in district schools every Tuesday and Friday, WKMG reports.
Here in Tampa Bay, many school districts have launched COVID-19 dashboards to report positive COVID-19 cases in schools. You can find a complete list where positive COVID-19 cases have been reported in area school districts here.
