COVID-19, Daily Update, March 6, 2020
We continue to monitor the emerging COVID-19 developments and will continue through the weekend too. While there are a few new confirmed cases today in our county, none of the new presumptive or confirmed positives are associated with our school district at this time. The three schools with an associated presumptive positive from yesterday that were closed today, Pinewood, Sunnyside, and Marysville Getchell, out of an abundance of caution, are in the process of being disinfected today and over the weekend. All three schools will reopen on normal operating schedules on Monday, March 9, 2020. At this time, we expect all schools to be operating on normal schedules on Monday, March 9.
We are following the guidance of the Snohomish Health District to implement social distancing strategies for non-essential gatherings. Field trips, scheduled evening events, concerts, performances, athletic competitions, and facility utilization continue to be canceled or postponed through at least March 22. Planned after-school activities considered an extension of the student day such as athletic practices, Century 21 Program, YMCA daycare, will continue to be held.
One new addition to the plan is we will be holding volunteers out of classrooms through March 22, both to limit exposure for the volunteers as well as for our students and staff. Visitors will also be limited to the office areas of schools.
The Snohomish Health District does NOT currently recommend closing schools. We will, however, continue to mitigate the risk for students and staff through disinfection of frequently touched surfaces, deep cleaning when necessary, and practicing universal prevention measures.
For people who are at higher risk from COVID-19, extra precautions should be taken. We encourage these individuals to follow the advice of their personal healthcare professionals and make informed choices about mitigating their own risk.
This includes individuals who are:
over 60 years of age;
have an underlying medical condition, like heart disease, lung disease or diabetes;
have weakened immune systems;
or are pregnant.
We will continue to monitor and adjust our district response as more information is known.