The St. Clair County Health Department has reported a case of COVID-19 at Keewahdin Elementary School, according to a joint news release from the department and Port Huron Schools. The Sunday news release did not specify if a staff member or student had been infected.
Keely Baribeau, Port Huron Schools director of community relations marketing, wrote in an email that the district's procedure when a positive coronavirus case is identified involves sending a letter with the St. Clair County Health Department to impacted families. As of Monday afternoon, the health department had determined no classrooms or schools should be closed, Baribeau said.
People who have been exposed to the virus are being notified separate from the general letter sent out to families.
This is not the first positive case in a school since the start of instruction.
"There have been six cases under investigation. So far these have been in PHASD and SC4," Dr. Annette Mercatante, St. Clair County Health Department medical health officer said in a statement. "It should be emphasized that known cases are likely not the entire burden of disease in the populations, since we know many cases can be asymptomatic.
"Therefore, it is critical that everyone takes this seriously: wear a mask, keep your distance, avoid in-person after school activities, and monitor yourself closely for any symptoms and get tested quickly if they develop. While your test results are pending do not go to school or work. We are working closely with all of our local schools and commend them for their efforts and transparency."
Mercatante said a process is in place for dealing with positive cases in schools.
"The general procedure is to investigate each positive case to determine who has been exposed: exposure warning quarantine (14 days absence from congregate settings) is being within 6 feet of the positive case for longer than 15 minutes (during the positive case’s infectious period – which is 48 hours prior to the onset of their symptoms or a positive tests and until they have been released from isolation).
"Other variables are considered by Health Department Case Investigators including what type of activity was happening etc., so procedures can vary based on each case. However, just being in the same building or room does not warrant exclusion from school….transmission of the virus is almost exclusively from direct inhalation of respiratory secretions…so basic handwashing and other hygiene measures should alleviate concerns about inert surfaces…even without continuous 'deep cleaning'."
Families are advised to help stop the spread of COVID-19 by staying at home when ill, washing hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds or using hand sanitizer when that is not an option, and practicing etiquette such as covering coughing or sneezing.
COVID-19 spreads via respiratory droplets that can spread via coughing, sneezing or talking. Illness can begin between two and 14 days after exposure. Symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, runny or stuffy nose, loss of taste or smell and abdominal pain.
St. Clair County has seen 961 total cases since the start of the pandemic, and 53 total deaths as of Monday afternoon.
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Contact Jeremy Ervin at (810) 989-6273 or jervin@gannett.com.Follow him on Twitter @ErvinJeremy.
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