SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Springfield Public Schools reported more COVID-19 cases on Friday, January 21.

Here’s a breakdown of the numbers:

• Since returning from winter break SPS has documented a total of 1,642 positive COVID-19 cases.
• 1,237 students have tested positive(this number of the student population can be compared to four SPS elementary schools).
• Since January 4, 405 SPS employees have tested positive for COVID-19. In total, 20% of SPS employees are reporting a necessary absence related to COVID-19. Tuesday, January 18, the case total alone was three times higher than any previous 7-day period since the pandemic began.
• On January 14, 20% of SPS staff were absent and 19% of SPS students were absent.

President and CEO of CoxHealth, Steve Edwards tweeted Friday, January 21, that 21.1% of the hospital’s recent positive cases are school-aged children 17 and younger. Edwards is pleading for schools to take action to reduce COVID-19 exposure during the surge.