Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By JOYANNA LOVE/ Managing Editor

Isabella High School students and staff are now being required to wear masks as the number of COVID-19 exposures at the school increases.

“Due to a rise in positive COVID cases and quarantines due to exposure, our school has been placed under a mask mandate effective,” according to a post on the school’s official Facebook page. “… Students who come to school without masks will not be allowed into class and someone will be asked to bring them a mask or pick them up. We appreciate your support and help in this matter, as we strive to protect all of our students during this difficult time.”

IHS joins Clanton Middle School, Chilton County High School, Jemison Intermediate, Jemison Elementary and Jemison Middle on the list of schools that are now requiring masks.

In a previous interview, Chilton County Schools Superintendent Jason Griffin said such a requirement is put in place when the number of COVID-19 cases and exposures reaches 10% of the people that are in the school on a typical day.

The Alabama Department of Public Health reported 83 cases in the past week in Chilton County Schools on Aug. 27.

Chilton County is still listed in the high-risk level for COVID-19 with 23.4% of tests for the virus being positive in the past seven days. There have been 2,590 cases so far in 2021 in the county.