Superintendent Weekly Press Release October 16, 2020
Dear Cedar Bluffs Families,
COVID RISK LEVEL: YELLOW
For the Week of October 19th, the Three Rivers COVID Risk Dial did not move and remains at 1.63. Dodge county remained the same but Washington and Saunders County both moved higher from 1.63 to 1.75. Although all 3 counties are at 1.75, the overall risk dial sits at 1.63 is a reminder that the Risk dial is based on 8 different components and is a 3-week average. The 8 components include: overall COVID-19 testing positivity rate, the weekly testing positivity rate, the percentage of change in number of positive cases from the week before, the average number of positive cases that are hospitalize, the average number of those on ventilators, the percent of cases classified as community spread, the testing availability and the weekly percentage of contract tracing. I am being told that this could also be altered as they continue to evaluate this tool. Two such changes they are reviewing is instead of looking at overall testing rate positivity is to move to a 3-week average of cases per one hundred thousand. Furthermore, another metric that has been helpful in other health districts is comparing the presence of community cluster vs. community spread cases. Just as this virus continues to mutate and change, we have seen that health organizations are willing to change with it.
TOTAL YEAR COVID POSITIVE: 0-Students, 9-Parent(s)/Family Members, 0-Staff, 1-Exposures at School
Last week I informed you of an elementary and secondary student who had been showing symptoms while in school and were tested. Both tests came back negative and those students are in school again, so we were able to avoid an exposure at school. We currently have three elementary students who are home awaiting test results after having symptoms. None of these students were in school when they first started showing symptoms. Cedar Bluffs Public School really appreciates how cooperative our parents have been this year. When a kid feels ill, parents are keeping them home and this has really helped eliminate possible exposures. I know it is difficult to understand that if you are positive you must isolate for 10 days but if you are healthy and exposed you have to quarantine 14 days. Some have had to stay away from school for 24 days if they are living in a household with a positive case. You must wait the 10 days of isolation with the positive person and then you have to quarantine 14 more days. We have had some people who have been told to quarantine because of exposure and then go get tested, thinking they could return upon a negative test. This is not the required protocol established by three rivers and they will still tell you to quarantine 14 days even if you test negative. You should only be tested if you are symptomatic. Furthermore, I know some businesses are requiring a negative test result for a previous positive person before they are allowed to return to work. This is not required to return to school. We are starting to see more positive cases with parents, grandparents and siblings within homes of our students jumping to nine for the year. We again appreciate families informing us anytime there is a positive case in the home so we know that students are quarantining and can work with you to provide remote learning. Three Rivers Health will inform the school as part of the contact trace but we may not get contacted for several days after a positive case, so it is still most helpful if parents inform us of any positive cases in the home. If you haven’t had a chance to watch the Governor’s news conference today, it is important: http://netnebraska.org/interactive-multimedia/government/executive-governors-news-conference-260
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