After May diagnosis, ECC employee still tests positive for COVID, but cleared to return to work

A staff member at Oak Ridge Schools Extended Child Care was diagnosed with COVID-19 in late May, and on Monday, August 3, the employee still tested positive, Superintendent Bruce Borchers said.

A physician has cleared the staff member to return to work, Borchers said in a letter to families on Friday.

“The physician said that a person will likely continue to test positive several months after the initial virus, and that the individual is no longer contagious,” Borchers said.

In his letter, Borchers said people who were potentially exposed at the time of the May diagnosis were notified by Ingrid Hamm, ECC director.

Borchers said the school district follows the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Tennessee Department of Health in response to COVID-19 diagnoses and exposures.

“We will continue to do everything in our power to ensure the safest environment possible while providing continuity of education to our students,” Borchers said. “When we can work quickly and collaboratively with the Tennessee Department of Health to identify and advise ill and exposed students and staff, we can keep our students actively learning in person at school.”