Monday marked the first day, and the first week since the pandemic hit, that county schools won’t be undergoing extensive contact tracing among students and staffers when others in the building come down with COVID.
Schools Superintendent Eddie Campbell Jr. said he was optimistic the omicron wave appears to have crested in the county, following heavy spikes after the holidays.
“All we can do now is wait and see,” he said, “but we’re feeling pretty good about it.”
Students and staff who now test positive will only be required to isolate for five full days following their result, the superintendent said.
Prior to Monday, Monongalia schools had gone with 10 days, which was the earlier measure handed down from the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention.
While the CDC eventually cut that back to five days, Dr. Lee B. Smith initially preferred to keep the 10-day directive, which the medical director of the county health department said owed itself to simple COVID caution.
Over the past several months of the pandemic, meanwhile, the local district has been lauded for its extensive protocols that included the now-relaxed contact tracing statute that it initially did in-house.
It also boasts its own disinfecting teams, which are on call seven days a week.
The teams consist of district employees who are specially trained and fan out to buildings where COVID cases occur to disinfect hallways, rooms, desk surfaces and more.
In a press release Monday, Smith prescribed some universality, as the pandemic again assumes a different tack here and nationwide.
“The Monongalia County Health Department is pivoting and removing some of the mitigation strategies which previously served us well, but are deemed unnecessary,” he said.
The release, further:
“An individual who tests positive for COVID-19 will isolate for five days, including isolating from others in the home who have not tested positive.
“After five days, if the individual has no fever and symptoms have resolved or greatly improved, then that person may return to work while wearing a well-fitted mask.
“People who are immunocompromised or have been severely ill from COVID need to continue isolation for the full 10 days.
“Quarantine recommendations take into account an individual’s vaccine status. A person who is up to date with vaccines, including all recommended COVID vaccines and boosters received when eligible, does not need to stay home unless symptoms develop.”
The mask mandate will remain for now in Monongalia County Schools, he and Campbell said.
To see the school district’s COVID guidelines, which are in tandem with those of the county health department, visit https://boe.mono.k12.wv.us/ and click on the “Updated Guidance” link.
For up-to-date information on health and wellness in Monongalia County, check out monchd.org and follow the health department on Facebook and Twitter @WVMCHD and on Instagram at #wvmchd.
The school superintendent and county health director are also encouraging people to get vaccinated and boosted, no matter what, given the ever-changing virus and its variants.
A total of 210 Mon students had tested positive during the week of Jan. 29, according to the most recent numbers on the state Department of Education’s COVID dashboard.
Smith said, “Public health continues to require community cooperation, as we are all in this together.”
TWEET @DominionPostWV
