Pause put in place on Wednesday due to outbreak related to student gathering
Camas High School officials announced Friday a return to in-person, hybrid instruction beginning on Thu., March 18 for cohort B following a pause put in place on March 10.
As of Friday afternoon, there are 16 known positive cases and 34 close contacts among youth who attend Camas High School. To date, all confirmed cases are tied to a non-school, off-site event that occurred over the weekend involving CHS students.
“The weeklong pause is providing the time necessary for contact tracing and testing according to Public Health guidelines,” said Principal Tom Morris.
The district shared the following message from Morris with CHS families Friday:
Camas High Parents and Guardians,
Thank you for your support as we continue to work with Clark County Health Services to complete our COVID-19 case investigation and contact tracing.
At the time of this release, there are 16 known positive cases and 34 close contacts among youth who attend Camas High School. To date, all confirmed cases are tied to a non-school, off-site event that occurred over the weekend involving CHS students.
Although Cohort A students attended school in-person Monday and Tuesday last week, we are relieved to report no current confirmed spread of the virus at school. Safety protocols and excellent adherence to mask-wearing and social-distancing by students and staff at school are likely to thank for the lack of spread in our school or classrooms.
That said, with the growing number of cases, and to prevent the spread of the virus that can occur before a person knows they are sick or if they have the virus without feeling symptoms, we will continue teaching and learning through Remote Learning through Tuesday, March 16.
At this time, we plan to return to in-person learning starting Thursday, March 18.
Cohort B will return to Thursday/Friday in-person learning on Thursday, March 18.
Cohort A will return to Monday/Tuesday in-person learning on Monday, March 22.
In-person athletics and activities will resume on Wednesday, March 17.
This decision is made collaboratively with District leadership and in consultation with Clark County Public Health.
STAY SAFE AND HEALTHY
At this time, those who were not at the event, and/or not in contact with someone who was at the event, and/or are COVID-19 symptom-free are considered low risk for COVID-19 exposure.
Students and families, please wear a mask and practice physical distancing, avoid group settings and stay at least 6-feet from other people.
Additionally, please be aware of the following:
- Monitor for fever, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, or new loss of taste or smell. *Please seek out COVID-19 testing and notify CHS if your student develops symptoms.
- If your student’s temperature is above 100.4°F at any time, or you get a cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, or new loss of taste or smell:
- Have them avoid direct contact with household members and others and wear a mask any time you are in a shared space.
- Contact your primary care provider or urgent care clinic and tell them you were exposed to someone with COVID-19 and have symptoms.
- If you can’t contact your provider and are very ill, call 911, and tell them that you are at risk for COVID-19 and have developed symptoms.
Please take a moment to review our COVID-19 Flow Chart for reminders of when to stay home, COVID-19 symptoms, and more.
HEALTH SAFETY RESPONSE TO WEEKEND GATHERINGS
In addition to being tested for COVID-19, individuals who attend gatherings where social distancing and masking are not in place are urged to isolate. We also encourage any other household members of these persons to quarantine to help protect the public. We encourage all families to watch this video to learn more about isolation and quarantine.
Clark County Public Health also encourages anyone who may have been in contact with a person or persons positive with COVID-19, and/or who live with elderly or medically fragile family members, to consider isolating from those family members and assume the youth or adult may be contagious.
Thank you to those who notified us of this situation so that we could activate our COVID-19 response plans and begin mitigation. Also, thanks to prompt and coordinated actions by many, including case investigation and contact tracing, we are slowing the spread in our community.
As always, I am grateful for your patience and support in this challenging time.
Sincerely,
Tom Morris
Camas High School Principal
