Elizabethtown Primary switches to remote learning for this week

ELIZABETHTOWN — Elizabethtown Primary School will switch to remote learning this week when school resumes on Tuesday.

A release from Bladen County Schools says this is “due to the availability of staff as a result of COVID-19 cases and exposures.” Devices or packets can be picked up by parents at the school on Tuesday from noon to 3 p.m.

Last Friday, Bladen Lakes Primary School was remote learning only due to availability of staff. West Bladen and East Bladen high schools utilized remote learning all of last week, and the Board of Education voted on Monday of last week to return to mandatory face coverings in all district facilities by anyone inside.

Last Tuesday’s report from the state Department of Health and Human Services listed West Bladen and Bladenboro Primary on the cluster list. The outbreak list included Bladen East Health and Rehab, Elizabethtown Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center and the Bladen County Detention Center. A new list is due Tuesday.

The state defines clusters as five or more at child care facilities or schools, and outbreaks as two or more cases at congregate living settings. Numbers are cumulative from varying points and do not indicate active.

Since the coronavirus pandemic began, the county has logged 100 fatalities, 6,995 positive tests and at least 5,956 recoveries. There have been 1,033 positive tests in January reports.