ALICE, Texas — Officials in Jim Wells County are keeping a close eye on a slight uptick in COVID-19 infections, many of which are coming from community exposure, according to the Jim Wells County Judge.
Concerns of the uptick are also impacting the Alice Independent School District as officials there have been working overtime to quell rumors of widespread positive cases among teachers. District officials said this is not the case.
One need only look at the Alice ISD website and the numbers speak for themselves. On January 5, four teachers reported positive for COVID-19 and six staff members were placed under quarantine with possible exposure to the virus.
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AISD currently has 750 employees and an active face-to-face student participation of 35-percent.
"At Alice ISD, we're doing everything to keep our students and our staff safe," Alice ISD Superintendent Dr. Carl Scarbrough said.
3News reached out to Dr. Scarbrough about recent concerns from some viewers that as many as 22 teachers at Alice High School had tested positive.
He responded by giving a total rundown of cases at all campuses.
"At those 10 campuses, we have seven reported active cases, maybe nine of COVID, and that's spread out, and that's not just with teachers. That's pretty much all the employee ranks; but we have 16 additional employees that are in quarantine for possible exposure," Scarbrough said.
"All that was reported over the holidays and none of that's been exposed at the campus."
Scarbrough said all safety measures are in place and in accordance with CDC guidelines.
"We haven't seen the spread in our buildings from kid to kid, or kid to teacher, or teachers to teachers. What we have seen is spread from the community that comes into our schools," Scarbrough said.
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
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