The Detroit district confirms seven more COVID-19 cases, including two parents

The Detroit district confirmed Sunday seven additional COVID-19 cases, including two parents.

That brings the total number of cases reported by the district to nine.

The seven confirmed cases from Sunday include staff members at Osborn High School, Mumford High School, Edison Elementary, Breithaupt Career Tech Center, and a contractor at Moses Field/Detroit Lions Academy. Two parents also tested positive, one from Chrysler Elementary, and one from Schulze Academy. A contractor from Randolph Career Tech Center was confirmed on March 23rd. 

The news comes as the number of confirmed cases in Detroit skyrockets. Detroit was recently identified by federal health officials as a hotspot of coronavirus spread. As of Sunday, there were 1,542 confirmed cases in Detroit, with 35 reported deaths

There were already widespread anxieties in the school community when an Osborn High School staff member tested positive for coronavirus nearly two weeks ago, the district’s first confirmed case. The news of a second Osborn staffer testing positive for the coronavirus suggests the person was infected in school. The district had reported March 14 that multiple staff members at Osborn were exhibiting symptoms of the disease. 

The district recommends that if a person was exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19 and is showing early symptoms, such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath, to contact the city’s health department for medical help.

To combat the spread of the virus, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered all Michigan K-12 schools to close, and extended the closure to April 13th. In a radio interview last week, Whitmer said that it would be highly unlikely for classes to resume this year