10 Merced County schools get waiver to hold in-person classes amid COVID-19. See the list
Some Merced County K-6 schools can finally reopen their doors for in-person classes with precautions, Merced County Department of Public Health announced Tuesday.
The combination of 10 small private and public schools recently had their reopening waivers approved by the state, officials said during a Board of Supervisors coronavirus update.
Up until this point, all schools in Merced County were required to have only remote learning classes, since the beginning of the fall school year.
“This is great, this is great news, absolutely,” said Supervisor Daron McDaniel. “I think it’s really important for our kids to be in school,” he later added. “The interaction, (the) interpersonal communication that they need is all part of their development.”
Private schools granted a waiver are: Los Banos Adventist Christian, St. Paul Lutheran, Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Mercy and St. Anthony, according to Nathan Quevedo, Merced County Office of Education media and communications manager.
Public schools approved for in-person instruction include: El Nido Elementary, Le Grand Union Elementary, Plainsburg Union Elementary, Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary and Merced River Union Elementary.
Effective immediately, the schools may now reopen at their convenience.
County Supervisor Scott Silveira, whose district encompasses Los Banos, said school in that area could be ready to reopen as soon as Monday.
Precautions against COVID-19 include that students must maintain 6 feet of distance at all times.
Merced County reached the state-defined metrics to reopen schools up to sixth grade on Sept. 9, said county supervising epidemiologist Kristynn Sullivan.
County officials were notified of the waiver approval Monday. At least two more schools are waiting on waiver approval as well, Sullivan said.
County supervisors and health officials hailed the news as a significant step for the county, noting the difficulties school closures have incurred on essential workers with children.
Merced County COVID-19 data
Also on Tuesday, the deaths of two additional county residents due to the novel coronavirus were confirmed by County Public Health.
The new fatalities raised the total number of COVID-19-related deaths since the pandemic’s start to 131.
The most recently deceased residents were a male and female, both with underlying health conditions, according to County Public Health. One was between age 50-64 and the other was 65-years-old or older.
New laboratory confirmed COVID-19 cases in Merced County tallied 29 on Tuesday. The county’s total caseload since the first coronavirus case was reported now numbers 8,645.
Sullivan noted that both new cases and new fatalities have notably slowed since County Public Health’s last update to the Board of Supervisors over two weeks ago.
Coronavirus infections presumed active, meaning they were confirmed within the last two weeks, decreased to 613 on Tuesday from 641 the prior day.
The percentage of residents screened for COVID-19 over the last week who tested positive also fell to 5.1%.
Active hospitalizations too saw a decrease of four patients to 61. Of those, only 12 residents are being cared for in the county, while the bulk of patients are looked after at outside facilities.
However, the total number of hospitalizations since the pandemic’s beginning increased on Tuesday by 10 to 665.
Current COVID-19 outbreaks in the county decreased on Tuesday, as Merced Nursing and Rehab, a skilled nursing facility, was struck from the county’s running list of outbreaks.
Outbreaks are considered closed when there are no additional new cases at the facility for two weeks.
This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 5:32 PM.
