COVID-19 case is reported at Tampa-area high school
employees at a high school have isolated for 14 days after they were exposed to COVID-19 on campus, according to an email from the principal.
“We were alerted today that we had a confirmed case of COVID-19 on our campus,” Carl Auckerman, principal of Palmetto High School in Manatee County in the Tampa Bay area, said in a message to families on Wednesday evening.
The school district and the
Florida Department of Health in Manatee County launched contact tracing and found that “a number of school employees” had direct exposure to the infected person, the email continues.
“Direct exposure” means someone was within six feet of a person with COVID-19 for at least 15 minutes, according to the district’s guidance, which mirrors recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Based on the principal’s email, it seems the infected person was a school employSeveral ee, but it was unclear how many employees were exposed and sent home on Wednesday.
“The individual associated with the confirmed case is also isolated according to district protocols,” Auckerman wrote. ”The portion of the campus where the confirmed case works will be fogged and sanitized.”
Teachers and paraprofessionals returned to work on Aug. 3 for training and preparations before the 2020-21 school year. Students are slated to arrive on Monday.
A COVID-19 exposure
Several employees were exposed to COVID-19 at Palmetto High School in Manatee County in the Tampa Bay area, according to the school’s principal.
surfaced on Aug. 3, the first day for educators, forcing six employees at Samoset Elementary to isolate for 14
days. Cases at least four other schools have come to light since that time, according to a recent statement
from the district.