Several students at an Atlanta prep school test positive for COVID-19 after drive-through graduation ceremony and in-person gathering at a student's home

Several students at a prep school in Georgia have tested positive for coronavirus just days after attending a drive-through graduation ceremony and an in-person gathering at a student's home.  

The Lovett School in Atlanta said in an email to parents last Friday that a graduating senior had tested positive for COVID-19.

That senior, who hasn't been identified, had attended the drive-through graduation ceremony held at the school on May 17, the Atlanta-Constitution Journal reports.

The school posted a statement on its website on Saturday saying 'several' graduating students had since tested positive.

The Lovett School in Atlanta said in an email to parents last Friday that a graduating senior had tested positive for COVID-19. Several other graduating students have also since tested positive

The student who initially tested positive was confined to his or her car while on campus for the drive-through ceremony, according to the school.

The school said in the email to parents that the same student later hosted a graduation gathering at their home before traveling out of town with friends.

'To date, the student has reported only mild symptoms and is under isolation at home,' the email to parents said.

The condition of the other students is not known.

It is not clear how the initial student became infected with coronavirus or if the virus spread at the graduation ceremony or off-campus gathering.  

The state of Georgia currently has more than 43,000 infections and just over 1,800 deaths.   

Lovett had closed its campus back in mid-March when the coronavirus outbreak first started. The school postponed its traditional graduation ceremony until August and instead opted to host a drive-through ceremony on May 17

Fulton County, which includes the city of Atlanta, has the majority of the state's cases. There are currently more than 4,000 cases and 196 deaths in the county. 

Lovett had closed its campus back in mid-March when the coronavirus outbreak first started. 

The school postponed its traditional graduation ceremony until August and instead opted to host a drive-through ceremony on May 17.

'Students and their families were confined to their cars during the parade and the only attendees were about 75 school employees who were socially distanced along the road through campus to cheer the graduates as they drove by,' the school said in a statement. 

'Any other events mentioned were not school-sanctioned, so we have no further information on those.

'Families of the students diagnosed with COVID-19 are working with the appropriate health care professionals and Departments of Health.'