Notices from R-2 school officials about recent COVID-19 infections mirror a county-level report on increases in area cases of the potentially deadline virus.

Dr. Michael Rothermich, chief of staff at Hermann Area District Hospital, reports this week the county’s positivity rate using the PCR-only testing method “jumped dramatically last week to over 15 percent.”

And, he noted, the state’s calculations of cases per 100-thousand residents also increased as 38 new lab-confirmed cases of the virus were reported over the previous week. Of those 38 cases, eight were detected in rapid testing with 30 detected through the PCR method.

“I spoke with staff at the Gasconade County Health Department, and at this time the sudden increase in cases does not appear to be clustered or related to a single event,” Rothermich noted.

This increase, however, is not reflected in state averages, he noted, as both patients hospitalized with COVID — and those in the ICU with COVID — continued to decrease for the eighth week in a row.

In the past seven days, however, administrators in the Gasconade County R-2 School District have sent out seven notices to parents notifying them of positive cases of the virus.

The cases reported have come at each of the district’s four buildings.

On Nov. 3, Superintendent Dr. Jeri Kay Hardy reported three students at the high school — who were last on campus the day prior — had tested positive. Seven individuals were excluded from school as close contacts.

A Nov. 4 notice from Hardy added another high schoolers to the list. That student had also been on campus last on Nov. 2. “No individuals have been excluded from school as close contacts,” Hardy’s letter noted, but, she added, “We have also been notified that two staff members from Owensville Elementary tested positive for COVID-19. They were last on campus on Nov. 3. One student has been excluded from school as a close contact.”

In a Nov. 5 notification, Hardy reported two high school students had tested positive for the virus and four students were excluded from school as close contacts.

That same notice indicated one Owensville Elementary School student had tested positive. Another student was excluded from school as a close contact.

Two more notices were sent out on Monday.

The first of the Nov. 8 notices informed families a student at Owensville Elementary had tested positive. The student, who last on campus Nov. 3, was asked by the health department to go into quarantine. No students were identified as close contacts or asked to quarantine, according to the notice sent out by OES Principal Tricia Ridder.

Also on Monday, Hardy sent out a notice informing families that one student and two staff at Gerald Elementary School had tested positive. The notice also reports tests for one middle school student and two at the high school were positive.

The students were last on campus on Friday (Nov. 5). The staff members also were last on campus on Friday. “Five individuals have to be excluded from school as a close contact,” the notice stated.

A notice issued early Tuesday afternoon informed families of one student at OES being asked by the health department to quarantine. The student was last on campus on Friday and no other “students were identified as close contacts or asked to quarantine,” the Nov. 9 letter from Ridder reads.

And, on late Tuesday afternoon, a notice from Hardy went out listing one student each from Owensville Elementary, the middle and high schools, as testing positive for the virus. Four “individuals” have been excluded as close contacts. Students were last in class Monday (Nov. 8).