Three KUSD Schools Report COVID-19 Infections Friday

Sept. 18, 2020 7:55pm

From  Kenosha Unified School District: 

(Friday, September 18, 2020) – Bullen Middle School, Indian Trail High School and Academy, and Prairie Lane Elementary each had one individual test positive for COVID-19, the Kenosha Unified School District and the Kenosha County Division of Health announced jointly today.

The individuals are now in isolation for 10 days, per Wisconsin Department of Health Services and Kenosha County Division of Health recommendations.

Affected staff and students will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days from the last date of exposure and will revert to virtual learning for the duration of the self-quarantine period. Those who do not receive a phone call from KCDH or a close contact letter via email from the school were likely not in contact with the COVID-19-positive individuals and are therefore not considered to be in a higher-risk group.

Classwide quarantines will be implemented for all KUSD classes in which confirmed positive individuals attended in-person. This is due to the length of classes at the high school level, general movement within classrooms at all levels, and restrictions on physical distancing due to space limitations.

Close contacts generally include those who:

  *   Had direct physical contact with the infected individuals (e.g. a hug or handshake).
  *   Were within six feet of the COVID-19-positive individuals for more than 15 minutes with or without a mask.
  *   Had contact with respiratory secretions from the infected individuals (e.g. were coughed/sneezed on, had contact with dirty tissue, or shared a drinking glass, food or towels or other personal items).

“It’s important to remember that COVID-19 cannot be transmitted by simply passing an infected person in the hallway,” said Kenosha County Health Director Dr. Jen Freiheit. “That’s not a close contact. Only those close contacts within classrooms or elsewhere will receive a close contact quarantine letter.”

Parents are urged to monitor their students and other family members for any COVID-19 symptoms, including fever, cough, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell, fatigue, headaches, etc. Those who become symptomatic should call their health care provider.

Freiheit said parents should not send students to school even with minor symptoms such as a persistent headache, runny nose or cough. In this case and others, those who find out they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus should call their health care provider and seek testing.

A frequently updated list of testing sites in and around Kenosha County is available online at https://www.kenoshacounty.org/2058/COVID-19-Testing-Locations.

More information about the virus, including local data and links to resources, is available on the Kenosha County COVID-19 Response Hub website, at https://www.kenoshacounty.org/covid-19.

If you would like more information on COVID-19 safety in school, visit https://kenosha-county-covid-19-response-kenoshacounty.hub.arcgis.com/ or call 262-605-6700.

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