Gateway School District now has a total of 13 cases of covid-19, which has moved officials to shut down two school buildings through Oct. 9.

In a letter addressed to parents Tuesday, the district’s pandemic coordinator, Dennis Chakey, said there were seven more cases at Gateway High School and two more cases at Moss Side Middle School. The new cases were found in high school students and Moss Side staff.

Both buildings had been closed through Oct. 2, but the additional cases forced officials to keep them closed another week.

The district announced its first case Sept. 23. The covid-19 case was found in a staff member at Moss Side Middle School.

The second announcement came two days later when Chakey said two students at the high school had tested positive for the virus. At the time, district officials canceled a football game and a soccer game.

A third announcement came Sunday when Chakey announced a second staff member at Moss Side tested positive.

The latest announcement represented the district’s largest increase in cases. Chakey said both school buildings will switch to an all-remote instruction model through Oct. 9, citing guidance from the Allegheny Health Department and the state Department of Education.

Those guidelines include shutting down for 14 days for districts that have multiple buildings with two to four covid-19 cases.

“It is important to note that a significant and/or widespread outbreak may require moving to a more remote-based instructional model more quickly,” Chakey said, referencing consultation from the state Department of Health. “The Department of Health (DOH) will provide proactive consultative assistance to school entities should such an outbreak occur.”

The district’s five other buildings remain open to adhere to its reopening plan, which includes a hybrid learning model where students attend school twice a week for in-person instruction. The other three days they learn remotely.

Some students chose to return to school for in-person instruction, while others chose for completely remote learning.

The district will also continue to perform contact tracing.

The latest announcement from the district also led officials to postpone an Oct. 2 high school football game against Greater Latrobe. It was not immediately clear if the district’s Oct. 9 sporting events had been canceled or postponed.

District officials were not immediately available to comment.

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