BCSD announces four school related COVID-19 cases and mask mandate

by VICTOR CORRAL MARTINEZ
Staff Writer | September 24, 2020 1:00 AM

BONNERS FERRY — Boundary County School District will require all K-12 students to wear a face mask or shield; staff and visitors will be required as well.

The school district will remain in category green but recent uptick in cases and quarantine of the girls’ soccer team are metric indicators showing a potential shift to category yellow or orange.

According to superintendent Jan Bayer, “Based on our current category and positive cases within our district, we will now REQUIRE face masks or shields.”

We also encourage the following to maintain a healthy learning environment:

Social distance a minimum of 6 feet;
Wash your hands often;
Cover your coughs and sneezes;
Avoid touching your nose, eyes, and mouth;
Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces;
Stay home when sick;
Sleep to rest your mind and body;
Eat healthy;
Stay hydrated;
Limit your social media time;
Set academic goals; and
Ask questions.

“Practicing precautions in and out of school will help keep our students, parents/guardians, and community members healthy [safe] or at least minimize the spread.” Bayer said. “we can maintain a healthy learning environment and continue to grow academically.” According to Superintendent of BCSD, Jan Bayer, There are four positive confirmed school cases of COVID-19 as of Sept. 18, 2020.

The first confirmed school case of COVID-19 was announced Sept. 13. two days after initial contact.

A second person was confirmed along with confirmation that a player from the girls’ soccer team contracted the COVID-19, requiring the school to lockdown for two days and conduct tracing.

Those in contact have been required to quarantine for two weeks, and many games have been canceled.

There have been 56 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Boundary county as of Sept. 18, 2020.

According to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, on Sept. 14, a person contracted COVID-19 and felt symptoms on Sept. 12.

Since the intial case reported by Boundary County School District, there has been an uptick of 11 cases from Sept. 14-17, 2020.

According to the state data, seven of those eleven cases reported not having symptoms; Panhandle Health District has reported that nine confirmed COVID-19 cases are people under the age of 18 since Covid-19 reporting began.

Since Sept. 4. an alarming 19.6% increase in positive cases have been confirmed in Boundary County.