Good Evening,
The Joint Stakeholder Coronavirus Response Team has just met for its fourth regular meeting of educators, parents, and public health officials. Unbeknownst to several of us, the state government is now releasing the weekly data report on Thursdays at 4:00 pm, so the information we have tonight is limited. We did receive a report from the city Medical Advisory Team and were informed that there are 2 new positive cases of school-aged children. One may have been in the school during the infectious period with contact tracing and quarantine protocols being followed closely.
Two additional staff members have tested positive as well, one of whom was quarantining due to exposure to a positive household member already. The other was in a school building while infectious and was not experiencing many of the well-known symptoms at the time, but reported a general feeling of being unwell. Because the staff member did not wait for more serious symptoms to develop, and thanks to the protocols in place here in the City, the staff member was able to be evaluated, sent for a rapid test, and confirmed positive very quickly. At this time, the risk to others is considered to be very minimal and contact tracing is underway. Please remember that in addition to proper hygiene, physical distancing, and other safety measures, it’s important that each of us is vigilant about monitoring ourselves for symptoms and seeking medical advice when feeling ill.
Citywide, the public health numbers that were available to us indicate that Haverhill will continue its recent downward trend. The Medical Advisory Team expects that the city’s average daily incidence rate will be between 12.7 and 13, down from 16.5 last week. We’ll know the percent positivity rate, which was also down last week from the week before, tomorrow when the latest numbers are released, but at this time no changes to the current learning models are being considered.
JSCRT meetings move to Thursdays at 6:00 next week, and we’ll continue to keep you up-to-date on the latest news.
Anthony J. Parolisi Margaret Marotta EdD
President, HEA Superintendent, Haverhill Public Schools