ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County's state health officer Dr. Raul Pino said Thursday that he is no longer allowed to disclose information about COVID-19 cases in schools, which has teachers saying they are worried that the full story is not being told.

Pino had been talking about school case numbers at regular county press conferences. But the health department's lawyers say he is not allowed to do that because that information is confidential.

Pino says they are pointing to a state statute, which reads in part: “All information contained in laboratory reports, notifiable disease or condition case reports and in related epidemiological investigatory notes is confidential ... and will only be released as determined as necessary by the State Health Officer or designee for the protection of the public's health.”

For now, it is up to the school district to determine what information will be disclosed.

Orange County Public Schools reports the number of positive cases on Tuesdays and Fridays. In Tuesday’s drop, district officials reported 54 positive cases since two weeks ago in 34 schools and four work locations.

But officials did not specify how many of these cases were students versus teachers, citing HIPAA.

When it comes to contact tracing, the health department looks at the proximity of the positive person to the other people in the classroom and school.

While some information is being released, Orange County teachers say the school district and health department are not being transparent enough.

Edgewater High School math teacher Ashley Modesto said she recently got a call that no teacher wants to get. In it, the associate administrator confirmed that one of the students in Modesto’s classroom had tested positive for COVID-19.

“Very stressful time right now, very stressful,” she said.

Stressful because preexisting conditions put her at high risk for the virus. But she was told she did not have to quarantine.

The district and the health department officials have said they are working to be selective in this process.

“(The district is) collecting those seating charts, looking at schedules, and making sure that they’re identifying those individuals surgically that need to be quarantined,” Orange County Public Schools Communications Director Scott Howat said.

That means there may be cases where a student in the classroom tests positive for COVID-19, but the teacher may not have to quarantine.

Modesto said she thinks this approach assumes students sit at their desks all day.

“There’s a lot more information out there that needs to be vetted to ensure that the people who need to be quarantined, quarantine,” she said.

While the health department has said it can no longer release specific data about cases in schools, Modesto said, being high risk, she needs those details to make the right call for her health.

“It would make me seriously consider whether I need to take a leave of absence or not,” she said.

Pino said department officials don’t see evidence of in-school transmission of COVID-19 in Orange County schools yet, but didn't believe they can really say for sure.

“Now if you’re telling me are you a 100 percent sure, I will tell you no. That’s very difficult to ascertain,” Pino said.

He said it is inevitable that there will be an in-school transmission at some point.

Modesto got tested just in case. She’s negative, but she worries it is only a matter of time with in-person learning.

“The chances of me, just using myself as an example, getting COVID, have drastically increased,” Modesto said.

On Tuesday, the district reported that there were 54 students and staff that tested positive since face-to-face instruction started late last month.

When asked Thursday if that number had increased, district officials said most likely yes, but the number would not be disclosed until Friday.