CAIRO — The Grady County School System is reporting that 147 children and 22 employees have been quarantined this week due to possible exposure to COVID-19.

At Southside Elementary, 21 students, a teacher and a teaching assistant were quarantined after a student in a pre-K class tested positive.

A total of 27 kindergarten and first grade students and two staff members at Shiver Schoolhave been quarantined after three staff members tested positive for the virus.

At Cairo High School, 60 students and 14 staff members have been quarantined after a student and teacher were found to have tested positive.

Across the entire school system, three students and four employees have been confirmed to have tested positive for the virus.

In Grady County as a whole, the number of new positive cases continues to slow for the fourth consecutive week. A total of 16 new cases of the virus were identified this week, according to the Georgia Department of Health, bringing the county’s total up to 754 total cases. One death was also reported.

The Grady County Health Department will host free specimen collection tests every Tuesday and Friday this month from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Patients are encouraged to schedule appointments by calling 229-352-6567 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays or between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Saturdays. Patients can also visit covid19.dph.ga.gov and select “Take the Screening Questionnaire” to begin the application process.

Visit southwestgeorgiapublichealth.org to see the full testing schedule for all southwest Georgia counties.