Northport High School Student Tests Positive For Coronavirus
NORTHPORT, NY — A Northport High School student has tested positive for the coronavirus, the Northport-East Northport School District learned Wednesday afternoon.
The student has not been inside the building since Sept. 17, superintendent Robert Banzer told the community in a letter. However, the student may have been in close contact with other students over the weekend, Banzer said.
The school will be closed to in-person instruction on Thursday and Friday, as contact tracing is still being conducted.
Anyone who is determined to have been within close contact with the student who tested positive will be contacted directly by the Department of Health with quarantine instructions. The infected student will not be allowed to return to school for at least 10 days and after a negative test result has been provided to the district.
"As a reminder, we caution all students, staff and faculty to be mindful of their activities outside of school," Banzer wrote. "Maintaining the safety and well-being of our entire district community is our number one priority, but preventing the spread of COVID-19 is a team effort. We are disappointed to learn that caution was not taken over the weekend. At best, students and staff have lost out on an opportunity for in-person learning. At worst, the health and safety of others has been jeopardized."
Families were reminded by Banzer of the importance of following the guidelines set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Department of Health.
The district's health and safety protocols are specifically designed to mitigate the spread of
COVID-19 should there be a positive case. All school buildings are cleaned and disinfected every evening, and the spaces accessible by the infected person (including the classrooms, hallways, and bathrooms) have been thoroughly sanitized again.
This article originally appeared on the Northport Patch
