Owensboro Public Schools will be moving to all-virtual instruction starting Monday and continuing through Dec. 4.
Daviess County moved back into the Red Zone of Kentucky’s COVID-19 incidence rate on Nov. 5, and it has remained there due to a sharp increase in the number of daily cases — prompting school officials to make the decision.
“Though numbers in our school remain relatively low, the number of positive cases in our community is reaching a highly elevated level and only continues to climb,” reads a release from OPS. “At the same time, though our schools have not had any cases of spread in our district, we have a responsibility to help curb community spread and do our part to ensure that people are limiting their exposure to others to help lower the number of cases in the community.”
As of Wednesday night, Daviess County’s incidence rate was 38.
Red Zone counties are those with a rolling seven-day average of 25 or more daily cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents. The incidence rate map is updated daily on kycovid19.ky.gov.
Daviess County was also in the red zone Oct. 8-9, when it reported incidence rates of 26.9 and 26.3 before dropping back down into the Orange Zone (10-25 average daily cases).
Over the last seven days, the following number of new cases and recoveries — as well as the incidence rate — were reported for Daviess County:
- Nov. 5: 53 cases, 27 recoveries, 31.7 rate
- Nov. 6: 27 cases, 7 recoveries, 31.7 rate
- Nov. 7: 44 cases, 31 recoveries, 33.9 rate
- Nov. 8-9: 62 cases, 20 cases, 36.6 rate
- Nov. 10: 56 cases, 38 recoveries, 38 rate
- Nov. 11: 64 cases, 29 recovers, 41.7 rate
School-specific guidance for a county in the Red Zone on any given Thursday recommends that all in-person instruction be suspended the following week and that only remote learning should occur. It is only a recommendation, not a mandate.
In addition to guidance for schools, Gov. Andy Beshear has issued reduction recommendations for the community for counties in the Red Zone. Those include:
- Employers should allow employees to work from home when possible
- Government offices that do not provide critical services need to operate virtually
- Reduce in-person shopping; order online or pickup curbside as much as possible
- Order take-out; avoid dining in restaurants or bars
- Prioritize businesses that follow and enforce the mask mandate and other guidelines
- Reschedule, postpone or cancel public events
- Do not host or attend gatherings of any size
- Avoid non-essential activities outside your home
- Reduce overall activity and contacts, and follow existing guidance, including the 10 Steps to Defeat COVID-19
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