7 Coronavirus outbreaks in Louisiana linked to schools, colleges

Washington: The US state of Louisiana has reported seven COVID-19 outbreaks linked to schools and colleges. Figures from Louisiana Department of Health showed that there are four outbreaks linked to colleges and three tied to primary and secondary schools, reports Xinhua news agency.

Data shows that 151 cases are connected to those college outbreaks, and 17 cases are being attributed to outbreaks at primary and secondary schools.

State officials said an outbreak is defined as two or more cases among unrelated individuals that have visited a site within a 14-day period, local TV station WBRZ2 reported, adding that the state started tracking groupings of coronavirus cases at schools this week.

Schools have resumed in many parishes across Louisiana within the past week, said the report.

Some school systems are already holding in-person classes while others chose to stay completely virtual for the first several weeks of the semester.

The Louisiana Department of Education has created an email recently for parents to report concerns about schools not complying with the state's in-person instruction safety guidelines.

According to the department's record, so far there are five schools where parents have filed complaints related to the violation of COVID-19 safety standards. Louisiana has so far reported 134,000 coronavirus cases, with 4,361 deaths.