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.

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.