| It was Sunday evening when Keith Blankenship with the Mingo County Health Department found out an employee at Mingo Central High School had COVID-19.
âWe do have a person that was a close contact with the football team,â Blankenship said.
Employees deemed to have been in close contact with the initial case got rapid tests, and the results showed six positive cases from Mingo Central High School.
Blankenship says he expects even more when more tests come back.
As a result of the outbreak, health and school officials shut down the school Tuesday -- with hopes to be back open Wednesday based on recommendations from state health officials and the CDC.
âThat will be determined today,â Blankenship said. âRight now, we feel (staff) will be back Wednesday because the school is being cleaned.â
This outbreak comes one week before Mingo County Schools is set to open to students, and the school was occupied by teachers preparing for that reopening.
In the meantime, Blankenship says no athletes have tested positive at this point. | 
