Coronavirus reported at Merced Union High School District office, amid plans to reopen
The district office of Merced Union High School District was added to Merced County’s COVID-19 outbreak list Thursday, raising the number local outbreaks to 12.
Davidson Residential Homes was also added to the county’s outbreak list.
The news comes days after MUHSD announced that it intends to reopen schools for in-person instruction on Nov. 2.
The outbreak will not affect the district’s reopening plans, MUHSD Deputy Superintendent Ralph Calderon told the Sun-Star.
“These things are going to happen, but we feel confident that we have the right steps in place,” Calderon said. “We’re never going to open up school unless we’re prepared to do so in a safe manner for our kids, and we’re confident we all have those structures in place.”
Calderon said he could not comment on the extent of the outbreak, due to personnel confidentiality. Symptomatic staff are always sent home, he said, and COVID-19 positive personnel are contact traced.
A complete risk management plan concerning COVID-19 is available on MUHSD’s website.
Coronavirus outbreaks are defined as three or more unrelated, laboratory confirmed cases linked to a workplace within a two weeks. One positive case constitutes an outbreak at a skilled nursing facility, on account of the high-risk setting.
Outbreaks are cleared from the list when no additional cases are linked to a workplace for two weeks.
More on latest COVID-19 numbers
The novel coronavirus on Thursday claimed another Merced County resident’s life, the Merced County Department of Public Health confirmed.
The most recent fatality increased the total number of pandemic-caused deaths to 150.
The most recently deceased individual was a male, age 65 or older, with underlying health conditions prior to death, according to County Public Health.
Also on Thursday, 19 new laboratory confirmed COVID-19 cases were added to Merced County’s running tally. Since the first case was reported, a total of 9,130 people have contracted the virus to date.
For the first time in recent weeks, the number of local cases presumed to be active increased — but only by one case to 284. Active cases are an estimate based on the number of positive COVID-19 tests within the last two weeks.
Merced County also saw improvement Thursday with COVID-19 hospitalizations, which decreased by five patients to 24. One week ago, active hospitalizations tallied 38.
Just seven Merced County residents are hospitalized locally. The remaining majority are being cared for at outside facilities.
The county’s testing positivity, which indicates the percentage of residents screened for COVID-19 within the last week who test positive, decreased on Thursday to 3.5%. Along with other data, consistently low testing positivity allows counties to reopen more businesses.
Schools taking reopening precautions
Along with MUHSD, most of Merced County’s other school districts plan to resume in-person classes in late October or early November, according to the Merced County Office of Education’s website.
Since the county advanced to a less strict reopening tier on Tuesday, schools can reopen early as Oct. 19 if local COVID-19 data remains stable. However, families can choose to continue with distance learning, a Thursday MCOE news release confirmed.
“We understand that some families are eager for students to return to in-person instruction and some families will remain with a distance learning format,” said Merced County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Steve Tietjen in the release. “School district leaders are working to ensure schools reopen in the safest way possible.”
Students who do return to the classroom must wear face coverings and maintain social distancing. Plus, students will stay in the same cohorts of peers and teachers to limit the number of people in contact throughout the school day.
Some schools will adopt a hybrid approach where only a portion of students return to class each day, or alternate student groups come in the morning and afternoon. When students are not in class, they will continue with distance learning, the release said.
School reopening plans can be found on MCOE’s website. Plans must first be approved by school boards before moving forward.
