Alabama schools report 16K COVID cases; MPS leads the state

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - The Alabama Department of Public Health reported a major increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the state’s public schools this week, with the Montgomery Public School system leading the list for the week.

The number of new cases jumped to 16,035 cases this week, up more than fivefold from the previous week when systems reported 2,940 cases.

ADPH gathers weekly reports from each school system and inputs them to its COVID-19 Schools K-12 Dashboard.

Montgomery Public Schools reported 861 cases, the most of any system in the state. Baldwin and Mobile schools followed with 827 and 712 cases, respectively. Jefferson County was the fourth highest at 544 cases.

Other systems of note with more than 100 cases include:

Auburn City Schools - 343 cases
Autauga County Schools - 258 cases
Alex City Schools - 127 cases
Chambers County Schools - 119 cases
Crenshaw County Schools - 102 cases
Dothan City Schools - 228 cases
Elmore County Schools - 219 cases
Enterprise City Schools - 139 cases
Lee County Schools - 194 cases
Opelika City Schools - 141 cases
Phenix City Schools - 104 cases
Pike Road City Schools - 105 cases
Tallapoosa County Schools - 113 cases

Multiple school systems have opted to temporarily return to virtual learning over the next week in an effort to slow the spread of the latest COVID-19 surge.

“I hope that it gets better by spring,” said State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey. “Our problem is we just don’t have enough adults to safely and effectively operate the school. Our general rule has been for many years, if 20 percent of the faculty are out, then you cannot keep going. And in some cases now we’re seeing up to 35 percent of the faculty unable to report.”