COVID-19 cases quickly rising in Fayette County Public Schools

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Fayette County Public Schools plan to finish the semester in person, despite a spike in COVID-19 cases and quarantines.

Nearly 50 students and staff members tested positive last week alone.

This comes after weeks of encouraging signs inside Fayette County schools, but, this past week, the number of people in quarantine more than tripled.

In an email to parents, Acting Superintendent Marlene Helm said that the number of COVID-19 cases among students and staff rose from 28 to 42 forcing 488 people into quarantine.

It also pushed us back up a level on the in-person learning matrix, into the orange zone.

Now, on one hand, it’s a positive to know that the school systems procedures are working to identify cases and quarantine people so they can avoid getting sick.

However, with such a big uptick, there are some concerns about what this could mean for the rest of the school year.

Helm said in her email that, at this point, there is no plan to steer away from in-person learning or in-person graduation at Rupp Arena.

Helm emphasized the need to continue following the guidelines so that we drive those cases and quarantine numbers down.

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