As the new school year approaches, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services added new data to track cases that happen in child care centers and schools. | Stock Photo
As the new school year approaches, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services added new data to track cases that happen in child care centers and schools. | Stock Photo
The North Carolina Health and Human Services Department added a new feature to its COVID-19 data website that tracks cases related to children, health officials said.
The department will provide data about coronavirus clusters at child care facilities and schools in biweekly reports including the number of cases and deaths among students and staff members, health officials said in a news release on June 26.
The child care and school focus come as more people are heading back to work and districts that will provide in-classroom instruction as COVID-19 cases continue to climb in North Carolina. The data is updated on Tuesdays and Fridays by 4 p.m. The July 14 report documented 12 clusters between schools and child care centers resulting in 89 cases. The state's health department defines a cluster "as both a minimum of five cases in the same facility within a 14-day period and plausible epidemiological linkage between cases."
Health department officials also said they expanded the information that is available on the COVID-19 tracker page. The site now includes expanded county statistics on trends, demographics and testing.
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