A second person at Glenwood Elementary School has tested positive for COVID-19, Oak Ridge Schools said Sunday. It’s the second case reported at the school on Sunday.
The person involved in the second case was last at the school on Wednesday, according to a letter to families from Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers. The school system learned of the positive test this weekend, he said.
Students and staff members who were potentially exposed have all been notified, and they will quarantine in accordance with Tennessee Department of Health guidelines, Borchers said.
“The building has undergone a deep cleaning over the weekend to prepare a safe learning environment for our students,” Borchers said. “We are appreciative of the precautions all parties are taking out of concern for others.”
In the first case reported Sunday, the person was last on the school on Thursday, and the school system also learned of that positive test this weekend.
Borchers said the close contacts of the person in the second case are not related to the first case reported Sunday.
Like other organizations, the school system does not identify the staff members or students who test positive for COVID-19, and the two letters to families on Sunday did not say what symptoms the infected people at Glenwood have experienced, if any.
The new case at Glenwood is the 11th overall COVID-19 case in Oak Ridge Schools and the 10th since July 15. Schools started re-opening July 29.
In addition to the two cases reported at Glenwood on Sunday, Oak Ridge Schools reported two other COVID-19 cases late last week. One involved a person at Woodland Elementary School, which was reported Thursday, and the other involved a person at Jefferson Middle School, which was reported Friday.
Borchers said Oak Ridge Schools will do its best to ensure a safe environment while educating students.
“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 avoid the need to close our schools,” Borchers said.
He said the school system follows COVID-19 guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Tennessee Department of Health.
The other COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools since July 15 involved a staff member at Oak Ridge High School, a staff member who had been at Jefferson Middle School and ORHS, a staff member at JMS, a student at ORHS band camp, and an instructor at ORHS band camp.
In an earlier case in April, a staff member who had been volunteering at the school system’s food distribution sites tested positive for COVID-19.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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