In an effort to provide transparency to families and employees regarding Covid-19, Knox County Schools last month began publishing a dashboard with data related to student and staff cases within our district. The district is working with the Knox County Health Department to compile these numbers and share them with the public. However, as part of this effort, it is important to note several features of the data collection and reporting process:
The number of active cases on the dashboard only represents the number of case subjects interviewed by KCHD. KCHD only receives school-level information from case subjects that complete a case investigation form. This form is used to confirm that a case subject is a KCS student / staff member. When cases are reported to public health, KCHD only receives basic information, such as the name, age and some contact information. KCHD must then determine if they are a KCS student. The only way for public health to know which school a student attends (or whether they are in public, private or a homeschool, for example) is to gather that information through a case investigation form.
- Due to the immense volume of cases statewide, there may be delays at every stage of the process, including:
- A delay for individuals who are seeking a test, which often takes several days;
- How long it takes for a lab to process the results;
- The time it takes for information to be sent to public health officials, which currently takes several days;
- The time needed for public health officials to make contact with the individual. Acknowledging these factors, by the time some case subjects are interviewed, their case may exceed the 10-day symptom onset date, which is how KCS classifies an active case.
- KCHD is not able to collect information on every individual that is 5-17 years old. In some cases, parents may not be able to respond to texts or calls; KCHD may not have accurate contact information; or the case may not be reported to public health officials. In any health emergency, it is expected that public health officials will not be able to reach all case subjects. The current volume statewide only exacerbates this.
The goal of Knox County Schools is to provide accurate and timely information regarding Covid-19 cases within our district, and we are working to enhance our dashboard with school-specific data. In the meantime, we urge families to take the following actions to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and to support in-person learning:
- Provide relevant information to contact-tracing officials from KCHD;
- Make sure that students stay home when they are sick and when they are asked to isolate / quarantine by public health;
- Ensure that eligible family members are vaccinated; and
- Consider the use of masks for students who attend school in person.
Josh Flory is a multi-media specialist with Knox County Schools and writes the blog Hall Pass for the KCS website.