State tracking coronavirus cases among school-aged people

As COVID-19 cases have risen in the region, officials with the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education are tracking cases among school-aged children and young adults.

The department’s website (www.dese.mo.gov) includes a searchable database counting virus cases by school district geography.

The numbers provide a snapshot of how many cases have been confirmed within the population of people age 5 to 19, but the cases do not directly correlate to individual school campuses for two reasons:

• Not every child within a specific school’s geographic boundary attends that district, meaning a student within the Cape Girardeau 63 geographic area might actually attend Notre Dame Regional High School or be home-schooled.
• The age bracket includes 19-year-olds, who may not be attending any school.

Within Cape Girardeau County, the district with the most cases, as one would expect, is the Cape Girardeau School District, with 88 cases. Jackson R-II has reported 60 cases. Three districts — Altenburg 48, Kelso C-7 and Nell Holcomb R-IV — have reported no cases. Seven districts have reported between one and 10 cases. They are Advance R-IV, Bell City R-II, Delta R-V, Leopold R-III, Meadow Heights R-II, Oak Ridge R-VI and Oran R-III.

Scott County has reported 81 cases in the Sikeston R-VI district, 25 cases in new Madrid County R-I, 21 cases in Charleston R-I and 11 cases in Chaffee R-II. All other districts in the county have reported between one and 10 cases.

Reported district cases in other Missouri counties:

• Bollinger County: Fredericktown R-I, 32; Woodland R-IV, 28; Greenville R-II, 14; Puxico R-VIII, 12; Zalma R-V, 0; all other districts, between one and 10
• Perry County: Perry County 32, 112; Farmington, 60; Fredericktown, 32; Ste. Genevieve County R-I, 21.
• Stoddard County: Dexter R-XI, 21; Malden R-I, 16; Campbell R-II, 14; Puxico R-VIII, 12; all other districts, between one and 10.