DeKalb Schools Have Canceled Out Of State Travel: Superintendent

DEKALB COUNTY, GA — All DeKalb County out-of-state and international travel that is school related has immediately been canceled, the school district announced Monday, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“We will be issuing formal public communication on protocols in dealing with the coronavirus,” said Interim Superintendent Ramona Tyson during the DeKalb County Board of Education’s committee of the whole meeting. “As you know, the nation is reacting and responding and preparing for a very difficult time due to COVID-19.”

The same goes for employee travel, she said. New requests for out-of-state or international travel won’t be approved.

Travel across Georgia, including metro Atlanta will be approved on a case-by-case basis. Consideration will be given to whether there have been new Coronavirus cases identified in the area, reports the AJC.

Tyson recently formed a coronavirus task force.

Globally, more than 111,000 people have been infected and nearly 3,900 people have died from the new coronavirus, Johns Hopkins reported Monday morning. Of that total, more than 80,000 confirmed cases are in China, while the entire United States has 566 confirmed cases as of Monday morning. There have been 22 deaths in the U.S. have been tied to the virus outbreak.

A total of 34 Georgians and other Americans aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship currently quarantined off the coast of California due to the new coronavirus will be transferred to an airbase in Marietta, Georgia, according to Gov. Brian Kemp.

"These passengers will undergo testing and be quarantined for possible exposure to COVID-19, Kemp said in a statement released on Sunday. "They are expected to arrive at Dobbins late Monday, March 9 or early Tuesday, March 10."

The Dobbins Air Reserve Base is located at 1291 Cobb Parkway, which is some 20 miles northwest of Atlanta.

There is no evidence of community spread of coronavirus in Georgia at this time, health officials said.