Local schools report seven covid-19 cases

Seven Siloam Springs School District students or staff members have tested positive for covid-19 since school began on Aug. 24, Assistant Superintendent Shane Patrick said Tuesday morning.

The first student tested positive on Aug. 25, the second day of school, according to series of press releases published on the district’s website. By Friday, a second student or staff member tested positive and over the weekend two more individuals tested positive, the releases state. On Monday, the school reported the fifth and sixth cases and a seventh case was reported on Tuesday morning, according to Patrick, who serves as the Arkansas Department of Health’s designated contact for the district.

In accordance with ADH guidelines, the district is not identifying which buildings the positive cases originate from until a single building reaches 10 cases, so as not to infringe on a single student or staff member’s privacy, he said.

As of Monday evening, a total of 71 students or staff members were identified as probable close contacts of people who tested positive

and were quarantining, Patrick said. All of the close contacts through Monday have been identified and their families have been contacted, he said. At press time, he was still working on contact tracing for the case reported on Tuesday morning and expected to have an updated number of probable close contacts on Tuesday evening. So far none of the close contacts have become positive, he said.

There are additional students who are out on quarantine because a family member or outside contact has tested positive, but Patrick said he could not release exact numbers.

No classrooms have been closed because of the positive cases, he said.

Since the virus has a three- to five-day incubation period according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is unlikely the positive cases from last week originated from spread in the school, Patrick said. However, it is a possibility for cases reported this week, he said.

Implementing the procedures for positive students has gone well, he said.

“We have not had any issues from parents that we have notified,” Patrick said. “We have been able to contact them quickly. Teachers are doing a great job with social distancing in the classroom, so it has limited the number of kids who are affected. I’m really proud of our staff and parents and how they are communicating.”

Students did a great job of social distancing and wearing masks at Friday’s football game, Patrick said. A total of 847 people attended the game, well under the facility’s social distancing capacity of 1,100, he said.

Probable close contacts are people who have spent a cumulative 15 minutes in a 24-hour period within six feet of someone who tests positive, Patrick said in August. Positive close contacts are traced for three days before symptoms began or 48 hours before an asymptomatic person tests positive, he said. Patrick is responsible for contact tracing and the final determination of who is a positive close contact is made by the ADH.

People who test positive are required to isolate for at least 10 days or until they haven’t had symptoms for 24 hours, Patrick said last month. Individuals who are probable close contacts are required to quarantine for 14 days and are encouraged to see a doctor or get tested.

Patrick asked parents to make sure they notify the school as soon as possible if someone in their home tests positive or their child comes in contact with a positive case outside of school so the district can prevent spread and so that students can pivot to online learning so they don’t fall behind in their education.

In the past 14 days, there have been 53 new cases, or 22 cases per 10,000 residents, in the geographical area of the Siloam Springs School District, according to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement website achi.net. The city of Siloam Springs has had 52 active cases comprising 0.23 percent of the population, the website states.

Daily updates on the positive cases in Siloam Springs Schools are available under the covid-19 tab on the Siloam Springs School District website, siloamschools.com.