Back in December, the mother of one of our boarders tested positive for COVID. She'd visited her mom recently and had to quarantine and test herself. The results came back negative and that's the closest Carrie, Shane, and I have come to the Coronavirus.
In person, at least.
Amongst the family, I heard that one of my cousins and her husband had a mild case of it. Jama was exposed and had to quarantine and test, but her results came back negative.
Professionally, a teacher I work with "caught it for Christmas." They didn't lose their smell or taste, but they said they had back pain, aches, and were tired. Their spouse caught it and lost some of their sense of smell.
Among the students, I know of two of mine out of 55 who have tested positive. One's a senior and had just moved out to an apartment. The coronavirus hit, the student lost their sense of taste, and they had to quarantine in a hotel that a local church group helped pay for (Their roommate had cystic fibrosis and they didn't want to risk staying around such a high risk person while positive).
Shane was supposed to visit Nana and Pop, but Cole came home from school Friday with a headache and low grade fever. He tested negative, but we all talked and pushed the pause button for now. Normal germs haven't disappeared, so I'm not overly worried. Shane was aghast. He'd been counting down days and telling his class all week that he was travelling, but it's better safe than sorry in this environment.
Cole had an elevated temperature Saturday night (99.8) and Tenley felt a little off after finishing Cole's waffle on Friday, so we postponed Shane's trip by a week. Cole got a COVID test during the week and it came back negative, so the plan is to drive Shane down this Saturday instead. He's already counting the days!
I got an email from the CDC last week that I'm part of Group 1B and eligible to sign up for a vaccination shot. My principal said, "The slots are going fast," and he wasn't kidding! I made an account the night I got the email and there's nothing available in January or February near me. I'm not in a huge rush to get the shot, but I would like to get it if I'm going to transition back to teaching in person.
Tuesday evening (1/26), we received an email from Shane's principal. His school was the first 'official outbreak' in an ACPS school.
"Dear Families:
As promised, when new information comes, I am updating you that the health department has decided to call our three COVID cases an outbreak. This will show up on the online ACPS COVID dashboard soon.
The health department describes an outbreak as two or more COVID cases from a similar exposure. The source of the infections in our three people cannot be confirmed, but since these cases could be related they have made this determination.
The health department’s decision to call it an outbreak does not change our response. There is no need for further isolation or quarantining of any adults or children beyond what already has occurred. Those who were contagious are following health department guidelines in staying home. This is eliminating any risk of the virus being transmitted in our school. Nurse Fewell (Miss Viv) and I have been checking in with all of the affected families and will continue to follow up with them if necessary.
Please continue to monitor your health for any signs of COVID symptoms including:
Fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue, muscle or body aches, headaches, sore throat
Congestion or runny nose, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting
New loss of taste or smell
In the event you observe any of these symptoms, please contact your health care provider.
Please stay safe.
Staci England"
Out of 24 schools, Ms. England drew the short straw. That's got to be rough.
I checked the website...
No comments:
Post a Comment