COVID cases top 1,800 in Volusia, Flagler schools, state says The report from the Florida Department of Health includes cases reported at private schools. On Friday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its existing guidance to say teachers don't need to be vaccinated for schools to reopen safely, and reinforced its recommendation to socially distance. This has been difficult to achieve in Volusia County, where the majority of students are learning in-person. Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said in a statement that districts should "stay the course they began in summer 2020." The number of new cases is appearing to slow down from a peak earlier this year. In January, the Volusia County school district reported about 500 cases of COVID-19 in public schools and Flagler reported about 100.