Two Monomoy students, chaperone's flight home from London delayed due to COVID

Cynthia McCormick, Cape Cod Times
·3 min read

HARWICH — Two Monomoy Regional High School students and a chaperone got an unintended extended stay during an April school vacation trip to London after they tested positive for COVID-19, according to Monomoy Regional School Superintendent Scott Carpenter.

The infections occurred as cases of the BA.2 variant increased in the Northeast, causing school officials to keep a close eye on possible further upticks following school vacation.

Last week’s April break marked the first time high school-sponsored international trips have taken place since the coronavirus pandemic broke out, Carpenter said.

This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the virus that causes COVID-19.
This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the virus that causes COVID-19.

He said the three tested positive April 21, a day before they were scheduled to fly out and return home.

“Everybody was vaccinated and everybody had mild symptoms,” Carpenter said. “...If you go abroad now you need to test negative to come back to the U.S.”

Knowing there was a possibility of infection abroad, school officials made sure the travel company in charge of logistics, EF Tours, made contingency plans to cover the change in travel arrangements and extend hotel accommodations at no extra cost to affected travelers, Carpenter said.

More: COVID cases on Cape Cod tick upward; testing positivity rate increases slightly

A chaperone who was not infected also remained overseas to handle logistics, and EF Tours arranged for two parents to fly to London to be with their children, Carpenter said.

“We had it all planned out that somebody could stay behind. The change of plane flights was covered and flying parents over was covered,” he explained.

“Today, everybody will be coming home, just a little later than they were hoping,” he said Wednesday.

Another group of Monomoy students and chaperones visited Costa Rica during school break and all returned home on schedule, Carpenter said.

One Monomoy Regional School District staff person got stranded in Bermuda after testing positive at the end of school vacation, he said.

Photos: Dennis-Yarmouth Regional at Monomoy Regional baseball

“It’s not a bad place to be stranded, except you are stuck in your hotel room,” Carpenter said.

The Monomoy Regional School Committee-approved trips to England and Costa Rica demonstrate “we’re starting to get back into that normalcy we had prior to COVID,” Carpenter said.

Most of the students and the chaperone tested negative on rapid tests before boarding their flight home.

COVID cases in Massachusetts schools, including the Monomoy Regional School District, are on the rise as the highly contagious BA.2 variant continues its spread in the Northeast.

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Monomoy had 25 cases of COVID-19 among staff and students the week leading into school vacation, 15 more than the previous week, Carpenter said. He said as of Wednesday, 35 students and staff had COVID-19 following school vacation.

State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education statistics show that 3,245 Massachusetts public school students and staff had new cases of COVID-19 during the period from March 24-30, a figure that increased to 5,363 for the period from April 7-13.

Post-vacation figures were scheduled to be released Thursday.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: COVID-19 infection delays return trip for two Monomoy students, adult