Superintendent Weekly Press Release November 27, 2020

Superintendent Weekly Press Release November 27, 2020

Dear Cedar Bluffs Families,

 

COVID RISK LEVEL: ORANGE

For the Week of November 30th, the COVID risk dial moves to the edge of Red at 3.43. All counties rise with Dodge and Washington moving from 3.25 to 3.43 and Saunders moves from 3.38 to 3.43. This is about as high as we can go in Orange, if trends continue we will move to Red next week. If we can turn the tide, I hope we can begin a decent. 

 

If you read my post last week, I updated you on the Governor’s new DHM which among other restriction would suspend all student activities under 9thGrade if our hospital bed capacity reached 25% (RED). You can determine this yourself at this website: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/ece0db09da4d4ca68252c3967aa1e9dd by taking the Active Hospitalizations divided by the Total Staffed Beds, 14 Day Average.  When the DHM was passed on November 18th this number was 21.25%; as of November 24th, when I calculated the number before going on Thanksgiving break the number had risen to 23.40%. If we continue on this course we will suspend all youth activities including practices and no middle school contests will be played. 

 

TOTAL POSITIVE14-Students29-Parent(s)/Family Members, 15-Staff

THIS WEEK POSITIVE0-Students1-Parent(s)/Family Members, 0-Staff   CURRENT QUARANTINE: 17

With a short week last week, we don’t have a lot to report except follow ups from previous cases. We did have one staff member go home on Monday last week with symptoms and is being tested. Their test came back negative. We also had 1 parent/family member inform us that their test was positiverequiring quarantine of their student. We also had 2 other students with symptoms getting tested as of Tuesday when we left for break. Since we don’t have school, we probably won’t get results until next week from those testing.  Because the students getting tested had not been school we did not sent out close contact letters. Monday November 30th is the return date for numerous quarantined students, so our current count of 17 quarantined is tremendously lower than just 3 weeks ago of 53. I hope this is a an indication that we are starting to decline in cases but watching the news concerns me as we see the airports packed with travelers and even with a request by the Governor of Nebraska asking everyone while in stores to wear a mask, I see many are still resistant to comply. 

 

I also read the CDC is looking at amending the quarantine length from 14 days to 7 if you can get a negative test after the 7th day. They see a good majority of cases from close contact occur from day 4 through day 7 and if you get a negative test after 7 days you should be able to return to work. They have not officially issued this change but may in the coming weeks. 

 

And lastly, I was reading a study published by the CDC looking at cases from June 1 through August 23 where the Governor of Kansas issued a mask mandate but allowed each county to opt out if they wanted to. Of the 24 counties that implemented the mask mandate, their cases dropped by 6% and the 81 counties that opted out of the mask mandate their cases rose by 100%. 

Here is a link to that study: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6947e2.htm if you want to read the full report. 

I hope you have a safe and restful Thanksgiving break! #WildcatPride