Sixty-nine students in three cohorts at Durango High School have begun self-quarantines at their homes after coming in contact with a district employee exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms but whose test proved inconclusive.
Julie Popp, 9-R spokeswoman, said exposure occurred late last week.
The district is not releasing more information about the adult based on federal medical privacy laws and the district’s conversation with San Juan Basin Public Health, she said.
No other adults were forced to quarantine based on contact with the 9-R employee.
The district anticipates results from subsequent COVID-19 tests taken by the employee will come back in the next two days, Popp said.
Popp said most of the students who are under self-quarantine are in cohorts that are meeting in-person five days a week.
At DHS, students are not moving from class to class. Instead, teachers are changing classrooms in an effort to minimize person-to-person contacts.
In a separate case, 15 Florida Mesa Elementary students in one cohort are under self-quarantine until Sept. 16 after test results for one student came back positive Friday. The student exhibited COVID-19 symptoms Sept. 1 and was tested Sept. 2.
An email was sent to families with DHS students who weren’t directly affected by the potential exposure at 6:53 p.m. Tuesday.
The email said: “An individual who has been in contact with students and staff at DHS is being evaluated for COVID-19. The school and the district are working proactively with SJBPH to make the appropriate notifications and next steps for those who may have been in close contact with this individual.”
The email said people who had contact with the individual have been contacted directly by 9-R, and the incident is currently confined to the three DHS cohorts.
The email went to families whose children did not have direct contact with the individual who tested inconclusively for the novel coronavirus because the school wanted all families to be aware of the situation.
The school remains open for in-person and remote learning for unaffected cohorts.
DHS has 60 total cohorts.
No other 9-R schools are currently affected by this case.
The school district is working with SJBPH and implementing its response plan for a COVID-19 exposure.
The district reminds students, families and staff members to stay at home if they are feeling ill and to wear a mask, wash their hands frequently and watch their distance from others.
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