NORTHAMPTON, N.C. (WAVY) – Northampton County High School decided to dismiss students and staff early Thursday due to a high number of COVID-19 cases.

Northampton County Schools issued a social media post at 10:30 a.m. Thursday saying the high school would be dismissing at noon “in order to give the school a thorough cleaning and sanitation.”

Northampton County is in the Roanoke Rapids area of North Carolina.

The school district asked parents to monitor their children for cold or flu-like symptoms. If your child is not feeling well, they ask that you please keep them home.

All other schools in the district are operating on a regular schedule.

10 On Your Side has reached out to the district to ask how many positive cases have been reported and if they expect to resume school on Friday. Stay with WAVY for updates.

It’s been a while since WAVY has reported on a school closing because of COVID-19.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) announced that May 10, 2023 will be the last day its COVID-19 Cases and Deaths Dashboard will be updated. Starting in May, doctors and labs are no longer required to report COVID-19 cases to the health department in North Carolina.

North Carolina began tracking coronavirus cases in March 2020. Since then, 3,499,147 total cases and 28,986 deaths contributed to COVID-19 have been reported across the state.

NCDHHS has reported 5,963 cases and 99 COVID-19 deaths in Northampton County since it began collecting data.