Nearly nine months after the first cases of the novel coronavirus were reported in central China, more than 1 million people have died worldwide from COVID-19.
Fairfield Ludlowe High School in Fairfield is closed for the next two days after three more positive cases of COVID-19 and more than 30 additional students have been asked to quarantine. This brings the total number of students and staff in quarantine to more than 80.
The superintendent posted a message online saying these are not connected to cases last week and attributed cases to students taking part in activities over the weekends and not wearing masks or social distancing. He said school officials expect more COVID-19 cases cases as students are tested.
“For the second week in a row, we find ourselves having to deal with the consequences of our students participating in weekend activities without masks and without appropriate social distancing. In this case, it wasn’t parties, but seemingly innocent activities like playing pick-up football or basketball, or any sponsored event,” Supt. Mike Cummings wrote.
There are now more than 80 students and staff in quarantine and more than two dozen people outside of Fairfield Public Schools have been identified as close contacts and are also in quarantine, according to a statement posted on the Fairfield Public Schools website Wednesday.
He said people are contagious two days prior to showing even mild symptoms, so there are no “safe” activities without masks and social distancing.
“We can and do ensure that students wear masks and socially distance when they’re at school, but what our students do outside of school has a serious impact on our ability to safely keep school open. We understand that we are dealing with young people. We understand how important it is for them to be with their friends. But we are dealing with a global pandemic and we cannot put all of our students and staff at risk because of the actions of a few,” Cummings wrote.
School department staff and the Fairfield Health Department have been working to identify, reach out to, and monitor close contacts so people who need to isolate or quarantine do so as quickly as possible.
The school is asking people to:
- Wear a mask and maintain social distancing for all activities outside of home and school.
- Students who have any symptoms of COVID-19 must stay home.
- Students who are awaiting COVID-19 test results must stay home.
- If a member of the Health Department’s contact tracing team calls, provide accurate and complete information.
