SPOKANE — Several school districts in Washington state and Idaho have chosen not to report COVID-19 cases at their schools since opening in August, painting an incomplete picture of how the virus is affecting students.
Among the largest districts in Spokane County and Kootenai County in Idaho, only Coeur d’Alene, Central Valley and Mead are reporting newly confirmed cases in a daily dashboard, The Spokesman-Review reported Friday. Spokane Public Schools and others are posting weekly updates.
District officials say Spokane had a spike with 10 confirmed COVID-19 cases compared to two last week, and 45 people in quarantine. The cases affected five buildings, including four cases at Bemiss Elementary and two cases each at Ferris High School and Franklin Elementary.
The Coeur d’Alene School District also saw a surge in cases with 19 positive tests as of Friday and about 300 people in quarantine, including one out of every seven students at Lake City High School. Superintendent Steven Cook said as of Monday students at Coeur d’Alene, Lake City and Venture high schools must return to their previous schedule of attending classes in-person two days a week and remotely the other three days.