Michigan K-12 schools show low coronavirus numbers so far, but that’s not the whole story - MLive.com

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So far, the large coronavirus outbreaks occurring at some K-12 schools across the country are not happening in Michigan.

As of Sept. 10, only 33 K-12 students and staff in Michigan had been infected by coronavirus in school-related outbreaks, according to state data released last week.

The largest outbreak reported has been at Luce Road Elementary School in Alma Public Schools, where six students and staff have been infected.

“At this point, it’s a so far, a good situation,” said Joshua Petrie, a University of Michigan epidemiologist.

Public health officials point to several factors contributing to that success. A big one, Petrie said: Michigan’s relatively low coronavirus transmission rates compared to many other states. Less virus floating around means less chance children will get infected at school.

It also matters than many schools have yet to resume in-person classes and those that have tend to adhere to public-health guidelines.

School districts in Kent County “have taken us very seriously” said Adam London, head of the Kent County Health Department. “They know that if things get out of control, the trigger is going to be pulled to close down face-to-face instruction. So they’re doing what they can to make daily life in school as low risk as possible.

“I’ve asked our surveillance team if they’re seeing cases connected to exposure in the classroom, and they are saying that it’s very, very rare,” he added. “At this point, when we do have a cluster of cases, it’s almost always something that was happening outside of the school building.”

Still, numbers in the state’s school outbreak report don’t tell the whole story, London and others say. For instance, the report doesn’t come close to reflecting all the coronavirus cases among schoolchildren or staff -- or the numbers forced to quarantine as a result of potential exposures at school.

Indeed, public-health officials point out the state’s K-12 school outbreak data takes a much more narrow approach than data on college outbreaks. The latter includes college students infected in activities outside of school. In the case of K-12, the numbers only show situations involving two or more cases where the people were infected inside the school building or at a school event.

Michigan school and college outbreaks infect more than 1,400 students and staff so far, state reports

“You could have 10 cases in a school district and if they’re not related to each other -- they’re in different buildings, they don’t know each other, they aren’t on the same team -- they won’t be reflected in that report," said Marcia Mansaray, deputy director of the Ottawa County Health Department. “They have to be linked together in same way," specifically that they were in the same place at the same time.

In fact, more than 5,000 Michigan residents under age 18 have been diagnosed with coronavirus since July 5, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

Coronavirus cases more than tripled among Michigan residents under age 25 since July 5

There’s also the issue of timing: It’s too soon to really say how the epidemic is impacting schools, said Susan Ringler-Cerniglia, spokeswoman for the Washtenaw County Health Department.

“K-12 schools have just reopened, and I think that’s a huge part" of why there have been few outbreaks so far, she said. “There are certainly precautions in place, and schools are doing a ton of work to make sure there’s as much space and distance as possible between students. But for most our schools, there simply hasn’t been enough time to see those outbreaks yet."

There’s a lot of uncertainty about how the school year will play out, Ringler-Cerniglia said.

“We all hope we’re not going to see much and it’s going to be containable while we continue moving forward with fewer restrictions,” she said. “But also we have to be prepared for the reality that we will see large clusters and that things may have to scale back. We just don’t have evidence to support that anything has changed about the virus or that this is over.

"So we’re proceeding with caution and hope.”

Realistic expectations

One of the big challenges so far has been trying to establish realistic expectations for school families, particularly in concern to isolation and quarantine orders, health officials say.

"A concern I have with our K-12 schools, especially some of our smaller schools, is the messaging parents might have received: ‘We’re going to do great. We’re not going to have any cases,' " said Dr. Jennifer Morse, medical director for 19 counties in mid and northern Michigan. "The messaging should be, ‘There will be cases and you do need to be ready to deal with them.’ ".

State guidelines encourage parents to screen children each school morning for coronavirus symptoms: Temperature of 100.4 or higher; sore throat; new cough that causes difficulty breathing; diarrhea, vomiting or abdominal pain, and/or “new onset of severe headache.”

Children with symptoms are being told to stay home and get tested for COVID-19, particularly if they’ve had contact with someone with coronavirus, traveled recently or live in a region at risk levels 1-3 on the mistartmap/info.

Under state guidelines, the child should stay home until he/she gets a negative COVID-19 test or until 10 days have passed since the onset of symptoms -- and then, only if the symptoms have resolved.

If a child tests positive for coronavirus, schools need to collect a list of “close contacts," which means any classmates, teammates or others who has spent more than 15 minutes within six feet of the child within two days of the child first getting sick. Those close contracts must quarantine and, stay home from school for 14 days, under the state guidelines.

Those quarantine numbers can be significant.

“We had a student in a school that’s quite crowded and not been able to cohort very well,” Morse said. “That can lead to like 50 close contacts, and so you end up with huge number of people on quarantine.”

In Ottawa County, up to 90% of parents in some districts have opted for in-person learning, which makes it much harder for schools to spread students out, Mansaray said. That means when a child tests positive for coronavirus, “it can result in 15 to 20 children getting quarantined.”

Public health officials say keeping sick children home and quarantining close contacts is key to nipping potential outbreak in the buds. But already, those rules are getting pushback from parents.

“It’s a very necessary thing that has to be done,” Morse said. “It’s better to have a few people out for a short period of time vs. having a huge outbreak and having shut the entire school down.”

Still, "now that we’re getting cases, we’re getting a lot of frustration and a lot of pushback as we do our contract tracing and putting people in quarantine,” she said.

Pushback also is coming from staff and students with symptoms who want to return to school before their 10 days of isolation is over. “Well, you can’t do that," Morse said. "You need to stay out for 10 days or you need to get tested.”

“It’s hard on everybody,” Morse said. "I really do feel for the parents who don’t have child care and have to work and we tell them at 3 p.m., ‘I’m sorry. Your child has to be in quarantine the next 14 days,’ and they’re saying, ‘What am I supposed to do?'

“If the schools have been communicating well ahead of time -- ‘This is going to happen, this is what it will look like and please work with your health department' -- it’s beautiful,” Morse said. “But if it’s not been really communicated ahead of time, it can go different ways."

In Kent County, London said, “Most parents have been great. They understand why quarantine and isolation are important, that these are very old-school public-health approaches to reducing infectious disease, and it’s the best we have for the most part right now.

“But certainly, there are many people who think this is an overreaction,” he said. “They think the pandemic is a hoax.

“It’s not a hoax,” he said. “We need everyone, including students and parents, to comply with our isolation and quarantine advice so they can save lives in their community and prevent this from from getting out of control again.”

Concerns on the radar

Health officials also are worried that school-related outbreaks may be become more likely with the arrival of cold weather and the resumption of sports.

“I think we’re going to see flareups and outbreaks especially as the weather gets cooler and people spend more time indoors,” London said. “And as flu and cold season ramp up, it’s just going to get more and more challenging to keep the virus isolated.”

As for the resumption of sports, London said, “no one know for sure how different sports and the interactions that happen in those sports" will impact coronavirus transmission rates.

“It seems reasonable to conclude that contact sports where there’s lots of close proximity and lots of exertion with heavy breathing, and lots of body fluids with sweat and saliva on everything, those are going to be riskier activities,” he said.

“But let’s be honest, we don’t fully know because we haven’t seen this before,” London said. “And so I think that it’s important that everyone goes into those activities with eyes wide open, follows the recommendations, and does what we can to try to keep those things going, if that’s the will of the parents. But we also need to make sure that we’re doing it in a way that hopefully sees those seasons conclude in a happy way.”

London also said that parents shouldn’t get caught up in the “political tug-of-war" over coronavirus mitigation strategies.

“We’re testing a lot of different approaches on how best to control it, and I think we’re all going to learn a lot in the next month about what kinds of things are successful and what kind of things need to be set aside,” London said.

Michigan is fortunate that the current levels of coronavirus transmission make it relatively safe to reopen schools, he said. But the key is for all community members to adhere to public-health recommendations to keep the virus under control so schools can stay open.

“We’ve got a lot going for us right now,” he said. “But this is a very vulnerable and important moment in the in the course of this pandemic. We’re in a very precarious spot right now.”

Managing expectations is key, Morse said.

“This is a COVID year," she said. “It’s just going to be different, and it’s not going to be easy or fun. But if we really pull up our bootstraps, and help support each other, we’re going to get through it.”

COVID-19 PREVENTION TIPS:

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.

Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible.

Use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and carry hand sanitizer with you when you go into places like stores.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also issued executive orders requiring people to wear face coverings over their mouth and nosewhile in public indoor and crowded outdoor spaces. See an explanation of what that means here.

Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

For more data on COVID-19 in Michigan, visit https://www.mlive.com/coronavirus/data/.

More on MLive:

Michigan pandemic death toll is thousands higher than official counts

WMU reports 72 new coronavirus cases; university now at 235 infections

23 students at 10 University of Michigan buildings test positive for COVID-19, public health notices say

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