Forsyth County school seeing great results combating COVID-19 with bubble approach

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — As high school football teams hit the field Friday night, one Forsyth County team has created its own bubble to lessen the risk of a player catching COVID-19.

Channel 2′s Tom Regan went to Lambert High School on Friday where the school is trying reduce the odds of players being exposed.

“They are trying to interact with the same people on a daily basis and try not to go outside that bubble. And one of those options for them was to go virtual,” said Jennifer Caracciolo with Forsyth County Schools.

About a third of students at Lambert are learning from home, while two-thirds are in the classroom.

“It’s just easier to understand things if you have a teacher in person,” student Julia Hinds said.

Masks are expected but not required, and positive COVID-19 cases are falling.

During the third week of classes, 32 people tested positive out of nearly 40,000 students and staff.

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Last week, positive cases dropped to 18, with 6% of students in quarantine.

“We are excited with the commitment that our students and our staff have made to keep our schools healthy and safe. And we are seeing it in our numbers,” Caracciolo said.

She told Regan that the low COVID-19 case count is also a reflection of the broader community and its battle against the virus.

“We have one of the lowest percentages of positive COVID cases in the state, so that’s reflected in our schools,” Caracciolo said.

She said about 200 students are in quarantine -- often linked to a school bus ride.

“The majority of students do wear masks, but that is where we are seeing right now with the elementary school level. The biggest spike of direct exposures are on school buses,” Caracciolo said.

School officials say they’re doing well, but they worry about an uptick in cases from the Labor Day holiday and fall break later this month.

Channel 2 gets exclusive look inside lab performing thousands of COVID-19 tests a day Ipsum Diagnostics lab in north Fulton County processes thousands of coronavirus tests every day.

Cox Media Group