File Photo SCHOOL BUSES will not be rolling in Martins Ferry for the next week after two new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in students at Ayers Elementary School. Remote learning begins today and will continue through Nov. 13. In-person classes are expected to resume Nov. 16.

MARTINS FERRY — The Martins Ferry City School District announced Thursday that classes for all grades would be conducted online only today through Nov. 13.

“We are notifying all student families that two individuals at Ayers Elementary School are confirmed to have COVID-19. They were last present at Ayers Elementary School on Friday, Oct. 30,” Superintendent Jim Fogle announced on the district’s website.

Fogle noted the goal of suspending in-person classes was to slow the spread of the virus.

“We plan on returning to in-person instruction on Monday, Nov. 16. I will keep you informed as to any changes in this plan,” he said.

The school district recently canceled in-person classes Oct. 30 and on Monday due to two other students testing positive for COVID-19. One is a high school student and the other a middle-schooler. Both schools are located in one building on the campus. Ayers Elementary School is in a separate building at the same site.

Contact tracing for these positive coronavirus cases has been completed, and the parents/guardians of the individuals deemed close contacts of the students have been notified, Fogle wrote.

“The Belmont County Health Department has been notified and will contact any individuals determined to be in close contact with the affected individuals,” he continued. “All students and staff that came into close contact were directly notified and will remain off campus for up to 14 days to ensure they do not have the virus, and to limit any further spread.

“While we do not have reason to believe that those who were not in close contact with the infected individuals have reason to be concerned, we ask that you, as always, watch for symptoms of COVID-19,” he added.

The St. Clairsville and Buckeye Local school districts also switched to remote learning this week because of COVID concerns.

Rob Sproul, deputy health commissioner for the Belmont County Health Department, said contract tracing has been difficult to do, not just in all schools but in the public as well.

“We had 42 new positives just today,” he said Thursday. “We are at 308 people isolated, and we are presently at over 350 quarantined and still adding to that number.”