Tecumseh, Clark-Shawnee schools no longer requiring masks

Weekly student and staff cases reported remain steady in Clark and Champaign counties.

Credit: Bill Lackey

Credit: Bill Lackey

Two Clark County school districts are no longer requiring masks for students and staff due to decreases in COVID-19 cases and quarantines.

Tecumseh’s face mask requirement was lifted Monday, according to Superintendent Paula Crew.

“Our quarantine and positive cases related to COVID-19 have decreased significantly over the last month... As a result, we will lift the face mask requirement... Face masks are still recommended, but will be optional,” Crew said.

“Clark County Health Commissioner Patterson reports this is a trend in Clark County and the state. He also reports that data confirms the delta variant has peaked and we are heading in the right direction in regard to COVID-19 cases,” Crew added.

According to the school district’s COVID-19 dashboard, the school reported seven positive and 16 quarantined cases.

Crew is reminding families that students who are not wearing a mask and determined to be a close contact of someone who tests positive will still be required to be quarantined for 10 days, which can be reduced to seven days if a negative PCR test is administered five days after the last known exposure to the person who tested positive.

Clark-Shawnee Local Schools had the requirement in place until Oct. 15. The district returned to optional masking as of Monday, according to Megan Anthony, the district’s spokesperson.

The local school districts that continue to require masks include Springfield City Schools, Global Impact STEM Academy and Urbana City Schools. Greenon is requiring masks through Oct. 22 and Mechanicsburg Exempted Village Schools has short-term masking in place for certain classes.

Ten Clark County and four Champaign County school districts reported new cases of COVID-19, according to the Ohio Department of Health’s school district dashboard’s latest update. A total of 92 student and staff cases were reported between the counties Thursday for the week of Oct. 4-10. Cases remained steady from the previous week’s total of 93 cases with 59 reported in Clark County schools and 33 in Champaign County schools.

The school districts that reported student and staff cases are:

Catholic Central: 6 students, 2 staff

Clark-Shawnee: 1 student

Cliff Park High School: 1 student

Graham: 2 students

Greenon: 1 student

Northeastern: 12 students

Northwestern: 6 students

Southeastern: 8 students

Springfield: 6 students, 1 staff

Springfield-Clark County: 5 students, 2 staff

Tecumseh: 7 students, 1 staff

Triad: 8 students

Urbana: 20 students, 2 staff

West Liberty-Salem: 1 staff

Cases reported on the school dashboard lag one week, meaning those reported Thursday were from Oct. 4-10.

The dashboard tracks cases of COVID-19 in all public and private K-12 schools across the state. Data displayed on the board includes all student and staff cases broken into new and cumulative categories. The board is updated Thursdays.

Clark County had 19,630 coronavirus cases and 349 deaths as of Monday afternoon, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Champaign County had 5,050 cases and 71 deaths.

As of Monday, 65,760 vaccination shots have been given in Clark County, according to ODH. Just over 49% of the county’s total population has received at least one shot and almost 46% have been fully vaccinated.

In Champaign County, 15,999 vaccination shots have been given. Just over 41% of the county’s total population has received at least one shot and just over 38% has been fully vaccinated.

Ohio reported 2,810 COVID-19 cases Monday, making it the second day in a row with fewer than 3,000 cases recorded in the state, according to ODH.

Ohio is averaging 5,038 cases a day in the last three weeks and 4,174 cases a day in the last week.

As of Monday, 3,015 people hospitalized in Ohio had COVID-19, with 875 coronavirus patients in ICUs and 553 on ventilators. In the last day, the state recorded 264 hospitalizations and 25 ICU admissions.

Nearly 55% of Ohioans have started the COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday, including 66.16% of adults and 64.08% of those 12 and older. More than 51% of residents completed the vaccine, including 61.91% of adults and 59.81% of Ohioans 12 and older, according to ODH.

In the last day, 1,968 people received their first dose and 3,307 people finished the vaccine series. More than 5,600 Ohioans received a booster vaccine in the last day.


By the numbers

19,630: Number of COVID-19 cases reported in Clark County

5,050: Number of COVID-19 cases reported in Champaign County

65,760: Number of vaccination shots given in Clark County

15,999: Number of vaccination shots given in Champaign County