UPDATE: Bald Eagle Area has 2 COVID-19 cases as the DOH retracts the 3rd positive
CORRECTION: UPDATE: Bald Eagle Area Superintendent Scott Graham posted at about 10:40 a.m. Thursday that Wingate Elementary staff and administration were notified Thursday morning by the state Department of Health that the student who had been reported as the third positive COVID-19 case at the school had actually tested negative. The DOH is investigating what happened. As it stands, at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, there are two confirmed cases of COVID-19 (one adult and one student).
As students and staff at Wingate Elementary stayed home from school Wednesday, the Bald Eagle Area School District confirmed a third COVID-19 case.
Since Bald Eagle Area reopened for in-person learning on Aug. 25, Superintendent Scott Graham has confirmed three positive coronavirus tests — one adult and two students. The most recent case was reported Tuesday in an elementary student. The school will be closed until at least Sept. 30.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education guidance states that an outbreak occurs when two to four cases are reported in the same building. Buildings are then instructed to close for three to seven days, depending on the level of community transmission in the county, so officials can clean and disinfect areas frequented by those infected.
When five or more cases are reported in the same building, PDE recommends a 14-day closure.
“Students and staff that we know were in direct contact with the student were notified that they were to be quarantined,” Graham wrote in an update to families.
The district will continue to contact trace on Thursday to see if any additional quarantines will be necessary. Parents will be contacted if their child is identified as a close contact.
“We will be using district camera footage as part of the contact tracing process,” he said.
The first COVID-19 case reported in the district was announced Sunday after an adult tested positive. After a second case was announced Tuesday, Graham said the school had identified a “possible” third case, but the student who tested positive Wednesday was not the person he was referring to.
“We continue to have no cases elsewhere in the district,” Graham wrote. “As always, I will keep you updated.”
The State College Area School District confirmed three positive coronavirus cases in students Monday. Last week, a student at Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania Charter School was confirmed to have had COVID-19.
This story was originally published September 16, 2020 at 8:26 PM.
