Dear Cedar Bluffs Families,
COVID RISK LEVEL: YELLOW
For the Week of September 14th, we stay in the Yellow falling from an overall risk level of 1.88 to 1.75. This is due to the fact that all three counties fell: Dodge from a 2.00 to a 1.88, Washington from a 1.88 to a 1.63 and Saunders from a 2.25 to a 1.75 for the week.
COVID POSITIVE: 0-Students, 0-Parents/Family Members, 0-Staff, 0-Exposures at School
Just a quick follow up from last week. The high school student who was tested over the weekend and had been at school, did test negative. So again, we have had no exposures at school. As a matter of fact, all the students and staff that have been tested, all have come back negative and for the first time since school started, we have no one being tested at this time.
As this pandemic continues, I continue to educate myself on all things COVID. One of those things is understanding testing and how important it is to get fast, safe and reliable testing done to help curb the spread of Coronavirus. Currently, there are 3 different types of tests.
One is a blood test that looks for antibodies. If you give blood at the Red Cross, they will tell you if you have these antibodies for free. It usually takes a week or more to get these results back. You may do this test anytime and it could give you a "false positive" because your body could still have these antibodies in your blood well after you have recovered and are no longer infectious.
Another is the dreaded swab in the nose (or more like the brain, since they shove it so far up your nose) that actually looks for the molecular structure of the virus and this test usually takes 3-5 days to get returned but could be upwards of 8 to 10 days depending upon where you go. This is the most reliable test and is what is most widely used.
Lastly there is the saliva test that looks for the antigen protein that this virus attaches to allowing it to spread in your body. This test can be returned in 20 minutes and is gaining in popularity. The problem with this test is you need to be actively symptomatic or you won't have many of these proteins in your body and could give you a "false negative" test. They recommend a second test (the molecular swab) if you test negative, but the positive test is guaranteed to be accurate. So, this test is not a great test if you don’t have symptoms and are only testing because you had an exposure but if you have symptoms, this is a great test.
#WildcatPride