There are 208 COVID-19 cases currently in Fayette schools, most in kids 11 and under

There are 208 Fayette County Public Schools-related COVID-19 cases currently active, said Lexington-Fayette Public Health Department spokesman Kevin Hall.

Of those, 181 are students and 27 are staff members in the school district.

The onset of symptoms or test date ranges from Aug. 7 through Aug. 18. The data is current through Aug. 19.

Of the current Fayette schools student cases, 110 are ages 5 to 11 and 71 are ages 12 to 18. Students 11 and under are not yet eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.

According to a Herald-Leader analysis, over the last seven days in the entire county of Fayette there has been an increase of 1,308 cases total with 60 children under the age of 5, 193 in the 5-14 age range and 68 in the 15-19 age range.

Fayette Superintendent Demetrus Liggins said Thursday that cases and quarantines have exponentially increased over the past week -- so much so that the district temporarily had to take down its COVID-19 dashboard.

District spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said school case and quarantine data would be available from the school district Monday.

Deffendall said Thursday night that at Jessie Clark Middle School, district officials received reports of 10 students and four staff testing positive for COVID-19 since the first day of school. Those 14 cases have led to quarantines for 304 students. All but 71 of those students will be able to return to school next week Monday or Tuesday, she said.