Pottawatomie and Lincoln County are now in COVID-19 Orange Level Two, which is 25 to 50 cases per 100,000 residents, according to the Oklahoma State School Board Association COVID-19 map with data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
According to the Oklahoma Department of Health, there are 290 active cases in Pottawatomie county and 93 active cases in Lincoln County as of Tuesday.
The original plan for Chandler Public Schools was to transition to virtual learning whenever Lincoln County reached Orange Level Two.
However, Chandler Superintendent Melody Toma said they are not going virtual because the new cases within the community are from institutional spread and not community spread.
“We’re looking at community spread and not institutional,” Toma said. “Those are two different things that our local health department are going to help sort out with us.”
Health Department Program Manager for Community Engagement and Outreach Jennifer Nun said community spread are cases within the general public, while institutional spread are cases within a closed facility like a correctional office or living center.
Toma said they have been working with the Lincoln County Health Department and without the institutional spread cases Lincoln county would still be in the Yellow Level and considered low risk for community spread.
One institution within Lincoln County that had an outbreak would be the Chandler Therapy and Living Center.
According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Executive Order report, Chandler Therapy and Living Center had 49 cases, with 42 recovered, and three deaths since midnight of Aug. 24.
A similar situation occurred in Pottawatomie County with an outbreak at the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center near McLoud. More than 100 inmates tested positive there.
Several schools within Lincoln and Pottawatomie counties have had students test positive for COVID-19.
In Lincoln County, Stroud and Meeker have reported students with positive test results, while McLoud and North Rock Creek in Pottawatomie County have one students each reported with the virus.
The McLoud student was a McLoud football player, which resulted in cancellation of Chandler’s scrimmaged at McLoud on Thursday.
McLoud School Supt. Steve Stanley confirmed the high school student testing positive was a football player. He said on Thursday that only the high school was shut down and those students attended classes virtually.
“The Elementary, Intermediate and Junior High School students attended classes as normal,” he said.