Two more cases of COVID reported at local schools

Last week, a class at Birchwood Elementary School returned to remote learning until November 30.

The confirmed positive cases within Central Dauphin schools remains low in comparison to the number of students in the district's 19 buildings, but the email did also confirm a rising number of cases among the staff and student body. The class will learn remotely until December 3.

"It was confirmed that the explosion of cases that we are seeing has been due to spread entirely unrelated to our careful practices of in-person instruction", he said.

Contact tracers are reaching out to patients' close contacts directly, and families who do not receive a call can still send students to school as normal.

The case, identified at St. Michael Catholic Elementary School, was posted to the school's website on Sunday.

"We were told (by health officials) that schools remain extremely safe and that there is no indication that virus spread in our region is connected to our schools in any notable manner", the superintendent said.

Between Thursday, Nov. 12, and Wednesday, Nov. 18, Staples High School reported 30 new COVID-19 cases, according to the state's COVID-19 schools tracker, while there were less than six at Greens Farms Elementary School.

Last week, the Whatcom County health officer changed his recommendation and advised schools to pause plans to expand in-person instruction for middle and high school students in light of the recent and ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases.

Kie Relyea has been a reporter at The Bellingham Herald since 1997 and now writes about social services and recreation in Whatcom County.