Dashboard Definitions & Guidance
“Campuses Impacted by COVID-19”: A WCPS school or district support area site that had one or more individuals recently on its campus who test positive for COVID-19 either 48 hours prior to symptom onset or 48 hours prior to the date of COVID+ test. Student/Staff cases that occur off campus and outside of the above time-period are not included on the dashboard, as they would not have posed a health threat the last time they were on a campus.
"COVID-19 Cluster": In a child care or school setting, the North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services (NCDHHS) defines a COVID-19 Cluster as a minimum of five laboratory confirmed cases with illness onsets or initial positive results within a 14-day period and plausible epidemiologic linkage between cases.
Note: It is possible for five or more individuals to be on a campus who test positive for COVID-19 over the course of a week that are unrelated and which would not be considered a COVID-19 Cluster. Additionally, not all cases reported on the Weekly Dashboard may be connected to a new or ongoing COVID-19 Cluster reported at a school. Click on
COVID-19 Clusters to view all NCDHHS identified child care / school setting COVID-19 Clusters.
COVID-19 Reporting & Communications: While WCPS will not release confidential student or staff information, “close contacts” (individuals within 6 feet for more than 15 cumulative minutes or more over a 24 hour period) who may have been potentially exposed to a person with COVID-19 will be directly notified through contact tracing. Only close contacts and families of students who are close contacts will be notified in the event of an exposure. General school-wide call-system alerts that occurred last school year are no longer occurring. All COVID-19 Clusters are reported and confirmed with the local health department and reported to the NCDHHS. In addition to being added to the weekly dashboard, COVID-19 Clusters are reported to families via the school-wide call-system and reported to the local news media to assist with informing the general public.
WCPS COVID-19 Response Protocols: WCPS has been and will continue following state guidance and working with local health officials in its response to COVID-19. The most current NCDHHS guidance and protocols that WCPS and all North Carolina public schools are required to follow can be accessed at
NCDHHS Strong Schools NC Public Health Toolkit (K-12).