OHA to report COVID-19 cases in schools, Oct. 1

Beginning Wednesday, September 30, 2020 OHA will report all COVID-19 cases in schools that offer any form of in-person instruction. This information will be published each Wednesday afternoon in OHA’s Weekly Report and on an Oregon Department of Education (ODE) webpage. For reporting purposes, OHA will treat schools that have no students being served onsite as workplace outbreaks, which are also reported in OHA’s Weekly Report. The new reporting protocol applies to all public and private schools and programs. This reporting informs Oregonians about potential exposures to COVID-19 in our schools and provides transparent and comprehensive information about the spread of the virus. What Will Be Reported – For schools offering any form of in-person instruction, all cases of COVID-19 among students, staff and volunteers will be reported and included in OHA’s Weekly COVID-19 Report. ODE will post the school-related portion of the report on its website. For schools offering only the Comprehensive Distance Learning instructional model with no in-person instruction (including offering no exceptions for K-3 or Limited In-Person Instruction) – and where staff and essential volunteers work on-site at a school location – OHA will follow the same reporting standard as for workplace outbreaks. OHA will report outbreaks of COVID-19 when five or more cases are identified in a school that has 30 or more employees.