INFECTION
HOLY CROSS ELEMENTARY STUDENT DIAGNOSED WITH COVID-19
SPRINGFIELD » A student at Holy Cross Elementary School in Springfield has tested positive for COVID-19, Archdioscese of Philadelphia officials confirmed Tuesday.
It was the first case reported at a county elementary school this fall.
The school, which reopened Sept. 1, alerted Chester County Department of Health officials Saturday after family members confirmed the child had tested positive.
There have been no other cases reported at the school.
Officials at the school ,which teaches pre-K through eighth grade, sent a letter to parents confirming the infection and stating the child was in school Sept. 3 and had gone to the office complaining of a stomach ache and fever and was sent home immediately.
In the letter, Dr. Mary Rose Worrilow, principal at Holy Cross, said she was advised by health department officials to air out the classrooms and then have them sprayed with the disinfectant foam. She stressed to parents the importance of checking children every morning for high temperatures or other signs of COVID-19 and not to send them to school if they don’t feel well.
Officials from the health department were contacting others who may have come in contact with the child.
Worrilow said the child and siblings are being quarantined and the school, the parish school of Holy Cross Church, located at North Bishop Avenue and Springfield Road, would be allowed to stay open.
Worrilow said children, teachers and staff are wearing masks every day and following all health department procedures.
Parents picking up their children Tuesday afternoon declined to comment.
In the letter, Dr. Mary Rose Worrilow, principal at Holy Cross, said she was advised by health department officials to air out the classrooms and then have them sprayed with the disinfectant foam. She stressed to parents the importance of checking children every morning for high temperatures or other signs of COVID-19 and not to send them to school if they don’t feel well.
Officials repeated the importance of watching for symptoms consistent with COVID-19, including fever, cough, shortness of breath, abnormal sense of taste and smell, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, congestion, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
At the college level Villanova University has reported 54 cases of COVID-19 since students returned to class on Aug. 17. There have been 30 non-residential students and 24 residential students diagnosed at the Main Line school since that time. Five of the cases are new this week while 20 students have recovered. No staff has been found to have tested positive at Villanova.
Students at Villanova who have tested positive are required to isolate for 10 day either at home or in a university facility while students who come into close contact with a person who tests positive are quarantined for 14 days.
This week Villanova began surveillance testing of students. Surveillance testing involves selecting a random sampling of individuals to be tested regardless of whether they have a known exposure or are showing symptoms.
The surveillance testing will continue through the semester.
“‘Adding ongoing testing is another example of Villanova continuing to put community first in order to mitigate and monitor the spread of COVID-19, Villianova President Rev. Peter Donohue wrote in a letter to students. “Thank you again for everyone’s efforts to create a safe and healthy
environment for our community this semester.”
The public is able to monitor the number of positive test cases at Villanova through an on-line dashboard- https://
www1.villanova.edu/university/returnto-campus/dashboard.html
Neumann University had its first update from the Chester County Department of Health and have no reported cases of COVUD-19 since students returned to campus. They also have an online dashboard which is updated every Friday at noon. To view it go to https://
www.neumann.edu/shield-our-knights/covid-dashboard?hsCtaTracking=c2a6cae2fd67-4e06-8bebc0f1aa7f3e3a%7C4cee9cee-5d54-460c8530-ffc6cf6d11a4
Penn State Brandywine in Middletown reported one positive COVUD-19 case in a student during the first week of September. The case was found using randomized surveillance testing. Penn State has performed more than 13,000 tests across all its campuses with 433 positives. The university has also begun pooling of tests, which allows testing of five samples at
once for more rapid test results with the goal of testing 1 percent of the school population. To view Penn State dashboard go to- https://virusinfo.psu.edu/covid19-dashboard
All public schools in Delaware County have or will open in a virtual format. Catholic high schools are slated to open in a hybrid setting Wednesday.
There were new 169 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Delaware County reported Friday and Tuesday bringing the total to 10,727 with 778 deaths and 93,114 negative test results.