SALISBURY – Eight new COVID-19 infections have been reported at Salisbury High School, including five staff and three students, since Sunday.

The Rowan County Health Department confirmed there is no cluster of cases at the school. Rowan-Salisbury Schools sent out four letters to SHS families in a standard format this week about new infections, beginning on Sunday.

The first letter said three staff members tested positive. The next day, another letter said one staff member and a student tested positive. On Wednesday two letters were sent out to families detailing one staff member and two students testing positive.

The state defines a cluster as five or more cases which can be epidemiologically linked to each other. RSS hasn’t seeen any clusters during the school year.

In confirming the eight cases, Assistant Superintendent of Transformation Andrew Smith said the number was the highest at a school in the district in the past week. On Monday, the district reported 33 total cases in the district, including 18 in students and 15 in staff.

Associate Superintendent Kelly Withers said the district examines new COVID-19 cases several times a day.

SHS Principal Marvin Moore declined to comment on the new cases.

State officials have claimed transmission within schools is low when safety protocols like those RSS has in place are followed. When the district returned students in August, former RSS Superintendent Lynn Moody said the district expected infections to appear in schools because COVID-19 was present in the community, which makes up the school population.

The district has maintained its blended plan B schedule for all students, with the exception of those who opted for virtual-only learning, since August. Nearby Kannapolis City Schools has temporarily moved to all virtual learning, until Feb. 15. Cabarrus County Schools has move between virtual and in-person models.