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School cases of COVID-19 will be handled by county’s health department

By Wesley LeBlanc wesley@opcfla.com
Posted 9/2/20

FLEMING ISLAND – All COVID-19 cases in district schools will be handled by the county’s health department.

Parents have been wondering how COVID-19 cases will be handled within classrooms, …

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School cases of COVID-19 will be handled by county’s health department


Posted

FLEMING ISLAND – All COVID-19 cases in district schools will be handled by the county’s health department.

Parents have been wondering how COVID-19 cases will be handled within classrooms, especially now that school is back in session. The Clay County School Board discussed it during its special meeting last week and how contact tracing and isolation will be handled.

“The Florida Department of Health-Clay County conducts all contact tracing and notifies those students or staff members that need to self-isolate due to prolonged exposure to a confirmed positive case,” the board decided.

The school board asked how word could possibly get around should a positive case pop up in a district school. Chief of Staff Terri Dennis, who has always been serving as a liaison between the school district and the county’s health department, said the district won’t be contacting anyone.

If a positive case pops up in a classroom, the person is notified by the county’s health department and told to isolate. The health department then will perform all contact tracing to determine who else may have been exposed. It will then contact those people to tell them that they need to isolate. A parent won’t receive a call from a teacher telling them that they’re student might have been exposed. It will be an official from the health department.

That’s why the district’s seating charts is so strict this year. Every student must sit in their assigned seat because it will be essential in determining who might have come into contact with who.

There is the flipside where a parent might tell a teacher or other students of a positive case. If a parent’s child tests positive, they are free to tell other parents, students or teachers.

The district recently published a step-by-step scenario of what to expect.

“1. Student in class says one of their family members at home has COVID-19 and the teacher and other students overhear,” district wording reads.

“2. Teacher notifies a school administrator of the comment.”

Administrators will then take the student from the classroom to the school health room for a temperature check. The student will wait in an isolation room while the administrator contacts the parent or guardian. The administrator will explain what happened and then explain that the health department’s recommendation is that “if a child lives in the home with a family member that is positive, the recommendation is that the child self isolates away from positive contact for 14 days beginning from the last day of exposure with the positive contact.”

If a school’s staff member or student ends up testing positive, the school will notify the district and then the district will notify the health department. That’s when the health department will step in to conduct interviews and contact tracing procedures.

No matter the situation, the health department will ideally be involved and handle all formal proceedings from that point forward. Students should wear masks if mandated and are recommended to wear them even if it’s not required. They should remain socially distanced when possible and if they have any form of symptoms of COVID-19, it’s recommended that they stay home.