Student at Lodi school has COVID

A student at a local private school tested positive for COVID-19 last month, but officials say it does not appear the virus has spread.

The boy tested positive during the summer session, said Dale Munsch, principal at St. Peter Lutheran School in Lodi.

The day staff learned of the student’s test, other children were sent home and the school closed for the summer, he said.

“What happened was that a student was not here on (June 19),” he said. “They took a test over the weekend, and we found out they tested positive the following week. It was the last week of the session anyway, so we closed down June 24.”

Staff let the other families in the summer program know of the positive test and did not have students return to campus, Munsch said.

“After we found out, no other families called and said their child showed symptoms, and none of them who were tested came back positive,” he said. “The student seems to be doing well, and they are currently doing their two-week isolation period.”

The school still plans to open July 29, he said, with safety measures recommended by the state departments of education and public health in place.

No other local schools have reported positive cases, but on March 23, the Lodi Unified School District announced on social media that an employee at the James Areida Educational Center at 1305 E. Vine St. “self-reported” testing positive for the virus.

District staff closed the building to the public and sanitizing the premises the following day.