More than 20,000 students in Mississippi were quarantined after being exposed to COVID-19 during the first week of school.
According to data from the State Health Department, 20,334 total students were quarantined between Aug. 9-13.
During that same time period, 4,521 students tested positive for the virus, according to the data.
The department reported that the total of students who tested positive for COVID since the beginning of August was 5,933.
Teachers and staff who tested positive during that week were 948, and 1,463 were quarantined due to exposure.
The data complied was reported to the state from 803 schools in 74 counties.
According to The Clarion-Ledger, close to 600 schools have implemented universal masking for indoor settings following the recent surge in cases and isolations.
Data from the state health department showed that only 36% of the entire state's population had been vaccinated.
