One Charlotte Amalie High School senior and two Ivanna Eudora Kean High School seniors have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Education Department. The students are in quarantine.
Overall, new cases are declining but continue to trickle in, primarily on St. Thomas. Since May 7, St. Thomas has seen 57 new confirmed cases while St. Croix has seen three new cases..
The Health Department confirmed the Charlotte Amalie High case mid-afternoon Wednesday and the two Kean High cases after 5 p.m., while the Department of Education was responding to the first case.
The Department of Health has informed school and district officials that the affected students, and other students with whom they were in close contact, are required to quarantine and cannot attend graduation ceremonies planned for Eudora Kean on May 20 and Charlotte Amalie on May 21.
According to the Education Department, after showing symptoms for several days, the Charlotte Amalie student was tested May 17 and received a positive diagnosis that day; the student has remained in quarantine since then. That student was last on campus for Senior Week activities May 17 and came in direct contact with at least nine other students.
The Charlotte Amalie student participated in the May 13 graduation protests on St. Thomas, where at least 20 protesters gathered outside the Department of Education’s main headquarters and on the steps of the Earl B. Ottley Legislative Building; and roughly 50 protesters gathered outside the superintendent’s office at the Edith Williams Alternative Academy, according to the department’s release.
The two Kean students, in quarantine as of May 19, were last on campus on May 13 to participate in graduation activities and came in direct contact with at least three other students.
The schools have contacted students’ families to inform them of the exposure; faculty and staff at the schools have also been informed.
The Department of Health continues its contact tracing operations for both high schools
With the support of the V.I. Department of Health, hybrid graduation ceremonies—consisting of prerecorded elements and an in-person diploma presentation for graduates—are planned for 1 p.m. on May 20 for Eudora Kean and May 21 for Charlotte Amalie. The programs will be streamed live on the Department of Education’s Facebook Page and air on Viya Channel 27.
Promotional exercises for the territory’s K-6, PreK-8, and junior high schools will be held virtually.
From May 17 to May 16, St. Croix1381 St. Thomas 1,679 St. Croix 1379 St.Thomas 1,622.
