COVID-19 Surge Forces Texas School District Closures

A Texas school district closed this week because of rising numbers of staff testing positive for COVID-19, according to a report by the local media KENS5-San Antonio.

Runge ISD is located about 73 miles southeast of San Antonio, and closed Monday about two weeks after school started, and will resume activities on Tuesday August 29, The Dallas Morning News reports.

Superintendent Hector O. Dominguez Jr. notified families of the closures due to a “recent surge of positive COVID-19 cases within our district.”

The district reports that 10 out of 43 staff members tested positive for the virus in its online tracker. Dominguez also tested positive for the virus.

“I tested myself with my physician, and I too tested positive for COVID,” he told KENS5. “We’re a very small school district, so we don’t have the resources that another large district would have to cover classes.”

Runge ISD has 195 students and only operates 4 days of the week, from Tuesday to Friday.

“The safety and wellbeing of our students, staff and community is a top priority,” Dominguez said in a letter on Monday.Texas COVID-19 cases have been on the rise this month. There have been more than 4,500 more cases this week compared to the previous week, this means an increment of 29.7% more cases.