The Oconee County Board of Education has sent a strongly worded letter to the County Commission complaining about the changes made to the staff and bus entrance to its Malcom Bridge Road school complex and rejecting all proposed changes for the parent entrance to Malcom Bridge Middle School.
The three-page letter, dated Aug. 21 but released to the public on Tuesday by Oconee County School Superintendent Jason Branch, is signed by all five members of the Board.
The Department of Public Health on Tuesday reported five deaths from COVID-19 in the Northeast Health District and 219 confirmed cases of the disease, pushing up the seven-day rolling averages of added deaths and of added cases.
The seven-day rolling average of added deaths, two of which were in Clarke County, increased from 2.4 on Monday to 3.0 on Tuesday, its highest point ever.
The Department of Public Health Daily Status Report listed a death from COVID-19 in Jackson County on Monday, the 11th day in a row that a death from the disease has been recorded for the 10-county Northeast Health District.
The Jackson County death, of a 62-year-old female with a chronic condition, was the third in three days for the county.
When the Oconee County Planning Commission meets in September, it will have to start strategizing for selection of a new chair, as the Oconee County Board of Commissioners has turned down current Chair Maria Caudill’s request for reappointment to the Planning body.
At its regular meeting on Aug. 4, the Board of Commissioners selected incumbent Planning Commission Member Chuck Hunt for reappointment, but selected Nathan Byrd, a minister, over Caudill.
Clarke County recorded another COVID-19 death with the release of the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report on Sunday, the fourth in four days.
Jackson County, which reported a COVID-19 death on Saturday, also recorded one on Sunday, and, with the addition of these two deaths, the seven-day rolling average of added deaths in the 10-county Northeast Health District increased from 2.6 on Saturday to 2.7 on Sunday.
For the third day in a row, both Oconee and Clarke counties recorded a death attributed to COVID-19 with the release of the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report on Saturday.
The Oconee County death was of a 60-year old male with a chronic condition, while the Clarke County death was of a 74-year-old female without a chronic condition.
For the second day in a row, the Daily Status Report of the Department of Public Health on Friday listed a death in both Oconee and Clarke counties, and, for the second day in a row, listed four deaths in the 10-county Northeast Health District that includes those two counties.
Also on Friday, Oconee County Schools listed 13 Active COVID-19 Cases among students and staff at the schools, up from four Active Cases a week earlier, and 100 Active Quarantines Due To Close Contact, up from eight on Friday of last week.
