COVID-19 close contact

[prin...@sethigh.org]

Dear Students, Parents, and Guardians,

We have had a few COVID-19 cases already and by definition everyone is a close contact since we all share air in our small school.  The protocol is to test on day 3, 4, or 5 and to closely monitor for symptoms.  Those tests can happen at home (we have plenty of home-tests available here at school), or we can test here on campus if you prefer.  If you test tomorrow or Friday you will be in the 3-5 day window.  Schools are no longer supposed to enforce COVID testing, and all testing now happens on the honor system.  You do not need to provide us with proof of a negative test.  We do hope that you will follow the testing protocol, though (or ask us to test here) so that we can keep our school as safe as possible.

For those who do unfortunately test positive, note that the decision tree for San Diego County differs from the guidelines provided by the CDC earlier this month.   In order to return to school on day 6 through 10, the student or employee must test negative.  It is ok to return on day 11 if still testing positive.  If an individual is able to return on day 6 through 10, a tight-fitting mask (N-95 or KN95) must be worn.

We will certainly raise the level of concern if we determine that we have a large number of cases, but you should probably expect to get emails similar to this one throughout the year as we do the mandatory reporting of close contacts.  At the moment we are only aware of a few cases so we are still at a "be cautious, but don't be alarmed" level of concern.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  Unfortunately I will not be able to disclose who the individuals are or help you determine how close the close contact was.  Assume that it is the same level of close contact that you may have if you are shopping in a grocery store.  That being said, since many of us wear masks when we are in more risky situations, that may make you want to reconsider your mask wearing while at school. 

I'm still hopeful that COVID won't be a problem this year.  Fingers crossed!

Dr. McCurdy