A third COVID-19 case involving a Waldport High School staff member led the Lincoln County School District to advise 17 other staff and students to quarantine for 10-14 days, a district official said Friday.
The notification came after the 17 were suspected of having close contact with the staff member who tested positive Nov. 13.
Their quarantine time should be completed by the time teachers and some students report back to school Monday after the district’s Thanksgiving break.
The third COVID-19 case involving a high/middle school staff member was reported Wednesday by the Oregon Health Authority in its weekly summary of cases. The Nov. 25 report said the staff member tested positive Nov. 13.
Among much other data, the weekly summary includes a table showing which schools across Oregon have had cases among staff and students.
Waldport High’s first two cases surfaced publicly in the OHA’s Nov. 11 report. Those two staff are also expected back in school Monday after finishing a two-week quarantine.
The majority of middle and high school staff are in classrooms by themselves. Only a handful of older students – special education, career technical education and students without internet connections at home – are in school buildings.
The COVID-19 cases at Waldport High are the only cases so far involving staff or volunteers in the Lincoln County School District.
Susan Van Liew, the assistant superintendent who is in charge of the district’s coronavirus response, said Friday in an email to YachatsNews that the third staff case was related to the first two.
“When we were informed of the positive test result, it was determined there was possible exposure to about 17, both staff and students, although the person who tested positive was already quarantining,” Van Liew said in her email. “… we informed both staff and students of the possible exposure, requested they quarantine and informed them Lincoln County Public Health would be following up to see how they were.”
Unlike the third case, Van Liew said the first two staff members with COVID-19 had no person-to-person interaction with students. Van Liew said the two employees notified building administrators the weekend of Nov. 7-8 that they were showing COVID-19 symptoms. A school nurse then contacted them and arranged for COVID-19 tests and also contacted county health officials. The positive test results came back Nov. 9.
As of Nov. 22, there had been 13 COVID-19 cases among people living in Waldport’s 97394 Zip code since the start of the pandemic last February, according to the OHA’s latest numbers. Countywide there have been 588 cases.
Also, Oregon Coast Community College announced Friday that a staff member tested positive Nov. 18. In a news release posted on its website, the college said the person had limited interaction with staff and students and that Lincoln County Public Health had begun contact tracing.
The college said it was the first confirmed on-campus case of COVID-19 at the school.