Harlem High School student tests positive for COVID-19

One day after Columbia County reopened for the 2020-2021 school year, the school district has confirmed its first COVID-19 case — at Harlem High.

Superintendent Sandra Carraway said in an email that a student who was previously tested as part of a pre-op process received positive results.

“Because the Columbia County School District has 3400 employees and more than 20,000 students, unfortunately it can be expected that there will be instances of positive cases of COVID-19, hopefully on a very limited basis given expectations of our Collective Responsibility agreement,” Carraway said.

Harlem High principal Casey Dees sent out a letter to parents/guardians notifying them of the situation. .

“Today, August 4, 2020 we were alerted that a student or staff member who may have been in contact with your child/children tested positive for COVID-19. The student or staff member is under quarantine following CDC and Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) guidelines,” the letter states.

“Though your child may have been in proximity to the individual, your child was not identified to have been in close or direct contact as defined by the CDC and DPH. Therefore, no quarantine will be required for your child.“

The superintendent said the school district immediately followed protocol for such situations. According to the district’s reopening plan, the following steps are taken if someone tests positive:

– Alert district office and the Director of School Health who will collaborate with the Department of Public Health to assist with contact tracing to determine the requirements for quarantining.

– Require infected staff and/or students to remain at home until they have been released to return to school by their physician or have met the CDC criteria.

– Notify affected families and/or staff while maintaining confidentiality consistent with applicable federal and state privacy laws.

Symptomatic people with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 (based on direct contact with an individual who tested positive) can return to school after at least 24 hours have passed since recovery and at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared, according to the district’s plan.

Asymptomatic people with the virus may return to school after at least 10 days have passed since the date of test administration and the person remains without symptoms.

The school district was one of the first in Georgia to reopen. Carraway was asked Tuesday night how many students and/or teachers have been quarantined but hadn’t yet replied.

The letter asked Harlem High parents to observe their children more closely over the next several days for any of the common symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, coughing, fatigue, diarrhea, and new loss of taste or smell.

In her email, Carraway asked families to not send their children to school if they have been tested for the virus until test results are returned and are negative.