Fulton County Schools has a second employee at Woodland Middle School confirmed to have COVID-19.
According to district leaders, public health officials notified them that an employee at Woodland Middle School in East Point has been confirmed to have COVID-19.
That is the same school where another teacher, one who also works at Bear Creek Middle, was confirmed with the highly contagious virus on Monday.
News of that infection led the district to shut down all schools in the country Tuesday and today. Schools will reopen Thursday with the exception of Bear Creek and Woodland, both of which are supposed to reopen March 23.
I have to assume staff members in both of these schools are being closely monitored and are staying in their homes.
We know children seem far less likely to contract this virus, which has to be reassuring to parents.
This is frightening, and our thoughts are with the staff and families of both these schools and the two ill employees.
Here is the Fulton release in full:
As has been previously announced this week, Woodland Middle School is currently closed and being cleaned due to potential exposure from a different employee who served both Woodland Middle School and Bear Creek Middle School.
Woodland Middle School was scheduled to re-open on March 17 based on the exposure in the first case; however, the employee was last in school on March 9 and the date to re-open is being moved to Monday, March 23, which is the same as Bear Creek Middle School.
In both cases, the closure is to reduce risk of additional exposure during the 14-day waiting period recommended by the Centers for Disease Control.
Individual students and employees who are identified as having had direct and prolonged contact with the employee are being contacted by the Fulton County Public Health Department and directed to self-quarantine.
Families that have not been contacted by the county public health department are considered to have low risk of exposure and should self-monitor. If a student or staff member feels ill or is exhibiting any flu-like symptoms, they should contact a medical professional.
Fulton County Schools is finalizing a plan on how to provide continued meal service to students at Bear Creek Middle School and Woodland Middle School. Additional information will be provided to those families by the school principals by Friday.
The current case at Woodland Middle School does not pose any additional exposure to other locations and staff throughout Fulton County Schools; therefore, all other schools will re-open and continue regular schedules on Thursday, March 12, as previously announced.
Fulton County Schools will continue to exercise precautions to lessen the spread of illness by encouraging staff and students to wash their hands regularly and through cleaning and disinfecting all schools, buses and facilities.
