Middletown Prairie parents received an email Wednesday afternoon that two students at Middletown Prairie Elementary have tested positive for COVID-19 after the first day of school.
“We are coordinating our efforts with Champaign-Urbana Public Health District to promptly identify and monitor individuals who have had recent contact with the COVID-19 positive students to prevent further spread within our school and community. The health and safety of all students and staff is our highest priority and we recognize the uncertainty and concern regarding the evolving COVID-19 pandemic. We are following guidance from the CUPHD, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as the state health department for best practices and procedures to protect everyone’s health moving forward,” the email from Superintendent Lindsey Hall and District Nurse Nita Bachman said.
The district is taking the following steps at Middletown Prairie:
- Two classrooms will be closed for 24 hours and thoroughly deep cleaned and sanitized;
- Students who are identified as having prolonged close contact to the COVID-19 case(s) will be in quarantine for 14 days. The family of those students will receive a notification from CUPHD;
- Students and staff will continue to be monitored for symptoms of COVID-19 and evaluation of illness report to promptly identify possible outbreaks;
- Deep clean and disinfect any other areas, such as restrooms, impacted by potential exposure to the COVID-19 virus;
- Students who will not be quarantined from those classrooms will be moved to another, separate classroom (with the same teacher) for the 24-hour closure of their original classroom.
Middletown Prairie students who chose the in-person option for the first semester of 2020-21 go to school daily for 2.5 hours in the morning or afternoon.
The district said that they would continue to follow COVID-19 protocol by sending students and staff with symptoms home, require PPE, and teach kids about social distance and proper hygiene.
“As always everyone should monitor their health and stay at home if they develop symptomes,” Hall and Bachman wrote. “Sick people should contact their health care provider to determine if testing is needed. Anyone who develops severe symptoms should seek medical care immediately. If your child has had close contact with a known case of COVID-19, keep the child at home and notify your primary healthcare provider, District Nurse Nita Bachman (217) 493-0699 and your local health department at the COVID-19 Hotline (217) 239-7877.”
The following are documents provided by Mahomet-Seymour Legal Representation Kriha Boucek, LLC of Oakbrook Terrace and the Illinois Department of Public Health, as included in the Aug. 17 board of education packet:
