Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools announces steps to prevent COVID-19 in its classrooms
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools announced measures Friday night that it’s taking to prevent COVID-19 in classrooms.
“Out of an abundance of caution,” CMS officials are restricting some travel to conferences by staff, while providing guidance to schools on travel for student field trips, according to a CMS statement posted on Twitter and the school system’s website.
“These decisions are made out of an abundance of caution to protect the health and safety of all CMS students and staff,” CMS Superintendent Earnest Winston said in the statement.
Officials said they also are:
▪ Reinforcing cleaning standards at schools and CMS office buildings.
▪ Encouraging families to keep sick children at home.
▪ Continuing to educate students and staff about common ways to prevent respiratory illnesses.
▪ Providing updates through CMS social media and the Spotlight section on the homepage of district website, www.cms.k12.nc.us.
CMS continues to monitor the situation with COVID-19 (coronavirus). District leaders are aware that the situation could change quickly, and they want to be prepared. Read our full update here: https://t.co/shtdbiju6Z pic.twitter.com/xZxLyUbWFi
— CMS (@CharMeckSchools) March 6, 2020
“The safety and care of our school family is my top priority as superintendent,” Winston said in the statement. “In situations like these, we come to a deeper understanding of how closely connected we are, and I thank you for your help in our efforts to be prepared.”
CMS also urged people to visit the Mecklenburg County Health Department’s COVID-19 page on mecknc.gov and the COVID-19 page on the website of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on cdc.gov.
Coronavirus has no cure
“There is currently no vaccine to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19),” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of late Friday afternoon, according to the CDC, 164 cases of coronavirus have been reported in the U.S. and there have been 11 deaths from the disease.
Two North Carolinians have been diagnosed with the virus — men from Wake and Chatham counties, The (Raleigh) News & Observer reported. One likely was exposed at a long-term care facility in Kirkland, Washington, the site of an outbreak, and the other while traveling in an outbreak area in Italy, officials have said.
