Staff report
On Friday, Oct. 22, at about 11 a.m. parents of the pre-Kindergarten class at Killington Elementary School were asked to pick up their children from school and quarantine as all were considered to be a close contacts of someone known to have Covid-19.
No other classes were known to be affected as of Friday, Principal Mary Guggenberger said. And this was the first time since the pandemic began that the school has had a known exposure to the virus.
The exposure was thought to have been Monday, Oct. 18 and, thus, students were directed to either get a PCR test Monday, Oct. 25 (7 days after exposure) or to quarantine for 14 days and return to school if asymptomatic.
“Close contact means being within three feet, or one meter, for a total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period while the person was infectious. A person’s infectious period starts two days before any symptoms began (or for people without any symptoms, two days before the day they got tested) and continues until they are recovered,” according to information from the Covid-19 Contact Tracing Team at the Vermont Department of Health.
“Anyone who is not fully vaccinated and was in close contact with the person who tested positive may have been exposed to the virus and will be asked to quarantine, which means staying home and away from other people for up to 14 days,” wrote Guggenberger and Katie Burke, district Covid coordinator, in a email to KES families Friday. “If you are identified as someone who may have been exposed, someone from either Killington Elementary School or the Health Department will notify you and will provide information and guidance on quarantine and other recommendations.”
“In order to maintain everyone’s privacy, we cannot disclose who in our community has tested positive,” the email to families continued. “Remember that we are all at risk of getting this virus. These ‘Covid-19 cases’ are our friends and family, and we need to be understanding and supportive. People with COVID-19 often experience uncomfortable symptoms and emotional stress. Instead of participating in speculation or gossip, offer to help community members who are affected by quarantine. With creative action from all of us, we will get through this period of anxiety and disruption. We thank you for your investment in the health and wellbeing of our school community.”
