School district confirms second positive COVID test

Posted

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Archuleta School District Superintendent Dr. Kym LeBlanc-Esparza confirmed to The SUN Monday that a second individual within the school district has tested positive.

The second individual was already under quarantine after a middle school student tested positive last week, and the district worked with San Juan Basin Public Health (SJBPH) to determine steps that needed to be taken.

"What I can confirm is that a person who was already under quarantine due to the positive case last Thursday has tested positive," the superintendent wrote in an email to The SUN. "We were notified last night of this case, so in collaboration with SJBPH we were able to contact trace for that individual and determined that a few more classes of students and a few additional teachers needed to be quarantined. We attempted to reach out to all who needed to quarantine last night, but in a few cases, we had to reach out to families this morning and have students picked up.  At this point, all who needed to be excluded from school are home.  We are hopeful that we will not see additional spread and we can continue to serve our students with our four day in person schedule.  But families and the community can certainly help by following the recommended health protocols:  wear a mask, wash your hands frequently, sanitize high touch surfaces and maintain social distancing."

LeBlanc-Esparza added that health officials help to determine the appropriate quarantine timeframes, and all who are exposed must stay home for the full timeframe.

"If students or family members experience symptoms, they should seek medical attention and a COVID test.  However, testing negative does not shorten the quarantine time period.  All who were exposed must stay home for the full timeframe," she wrote.