1 Student Positive For Coronavirus Sends Dozens Into Quarantine
GUILFORD, CT — A class of middle schoolers, 8 teachers, a paraprofessional and kids that rode the bus all are in quarantine after one student tests positive for COVID-19.
In a letter sent to families Friday, schools superintendent Dr. Paul Freeman said that the student and their family were told to isolate at home for 10 days. But the one case led to a whole class being sent home along with many educators and kids that rode the bus with the student.
Freeman said that, "As a result of contact tracing, the Guilford Health Department determined that students who were in class with the affected student will need to quarantine for 14 days. Eight teachers and one paraeducator will also need to quarantine for 14 days, and students who rode the bus with the affected individual have also been instructed to quarantine."
The middle school works in teams of students, and Freeman said, as a result of the one positive case and the requisite quarantining of close contacts, there's now a "lack of staffing" and "all students on the impacted team will move to full distance learning for the next seven days."
Freeman said all schools remain open, but urged families to "adhere" to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines "to stay safe and healthy and to help stop." Those include avoiding gatherings, mask-wearing, social distancing, and handwashing. And, students and staff who do not feel well should not go to school.
Friday, First Selectman Matt Hoey pointed out that while Guilford has not been declared a "red zone" town, there has nonetheless been an "alarming trend" of spiking cases.
"There have been 23 new positive cases this week," he wrote to the community late Friday, noting the state Department of Public Health reports Guilford has "191 confirmed and 25 probable cases with 12 fatalities."
"While we continue to have the lowest infection rate amongst our surrounding towns, we are seeing an alarming trend over the past several weeks. The average daily rate of new cases per 100,000 people has climbed to 11.3 from 8.7 last week and 7.7 the previous week," Hoey said, nearing the “red alert zone threshold of 15 which could trigger the implementation of additional restrictions related to the re-opening guidelines."
This article originally appeared on the Guilford Patch
