FALFURRIAS, Texas — A surge of COVID-19 cases in Brooks County has forced the Brooks County Independent School District to postpone next week's return date for students coming back to school.
County officials are also enforcing a curfew for minors.
The curfew has been in place for four years according to Brooks County Judge Eric Ramos, but he says this week it is being enforced to make sure students are staying home in order to help stop the spread of the virus.
Gerald Arismendez, who oversees safety security and operations at BCISD tells KRIS 6 News that testing, immunizations and environmental safety measures are what have helped the school district.
Officials say their return date was scheduled for Tuesday, but they noticed an increase in cases among faculty and students earlier in the week.
In faculty, there was a 9.5% positivity rate and in students who volunteered to get tested a 6.7 % positivity rate. Those numbers caused concern for district officials.
They hope that waiting a week will help with the incubation period and will also help better determine who is COVID-positive and who is not.
"At that point, I think what we decided is to be pre-emptive and proactive and we can postpone, at least for a little time,” Arismendez said. “Time is of the essence, especially with the pandemic, COVID-19."
Ramos says that officers will be monitoring parks and surrounding areas during school hours to ensure students are at home.