Dear Parents,
A student or staff member in your student’s class has been diagnosed with probable COVID-19. Each case of COVID-19 is interviewed by public health. As part of this public health investigation:
- The person diagnosed is being kept home from school until they are no longer infectious.
- The person’s activities when they could have spread COVID-19 were assessed.
- The people who were close contacts of the person with probable COVID-19 are instructed to stay home from school for 14 days after the exposure. This is called quarantine.
Because it is impossible to assess all interactions in a classroom and because of the length of time which classes spend together, all classroom members are considered close contacts. Your child was in the same class or group as the person diagnosed with probable COVID-19, so your child must follow quarantine instructions and stay home from school for 14 days. If you have children in other classes, they can still go to school unless their sibling gets sick.
We will communicate a return date once we have more information. During this time, your child should stay home and not go to other schools, activities, childcares, or other activities around other people. Instructions about how to quarantine are available here: https://covid19.colorado.gov/how-to-quarantine#
If your child develops symptoms consistent with COVID-19:
- Follow these isolation instructions.
- Have your child tested.
- Continue to keep your child home from school and avoid other activities around other people.
- Notify the school.
- Seek medical care and testing for COVID-19, calling your doctor before you show up.
Public Health may recommend or you may choose to have your child tested for COVID-19 a week after they were around the person with COVID-19, even if your child does not have symptoms. A negative test result does not mean that your child will not develop symptoms or become sick after the test. A negative test result means that your child did not have COVID-19 detected at the time of testing. A negative test will not allow your child to come back to school or attend other activities sooner. Medical insurance may not cover the cost of testing for people without symptoms.
If you have further questions, please contact West Park or your local public health agency.
