More school employees exposed to COVID-19 in Manatee County. What happens now?

Several cases of COVID-19 found their way into district schools and offices over the past week.

A case at Samoset Elementary School, first reported by the Bradenton Herald on Monday, forced six people to isolate for 14 days after a co-worker tested positive for the disease.

More cases arose over the last several days, district spokesman Mike Barber said, responding to a follow-up inquiry. He provided the district guidelines for handling COVID-19 exposures and a list of cases “reported and investigated” during the week:

• Ballard Elementary: An employee tested positive and exposed one co-worker.

• Harllee Center: An employee tested positive and exposed one co-worker.

• School Support Center: An employee tested positive and exposed one co-worker.

• Buffalo Creek Middle School: An employee tested positive and exposed three co-workers. In this case, Barber said the infected employee was on campus last week, and that all exposures happened at that time.

“It is important to know that none of the confirmed cases ... were contracted while employees were at work for the school district,” Barber said in the email.

In every case, he said, the principal or building supervisor reported to the district’s chief of safety and security, Paul Damico. Working alongside the Florida Department of Health in Manatee County, he helped to identify anyone with “direct exposure” to the positive cases.

“Direct exposure” means someone was within six feet of a person with COVID-19 for at least 15 minutes, according to the district’s guidance, which mirrors recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“In each case, the school or facility, or a portion of the school or facility was fogged and sanitized the same day or evening that a case was confirmed as positive,” Barber wrote.

While students begin classes on Aug. 17, teachers and paraprofessionals made their return last Monday. They were expected to work on campus Aug. 3-7 and will return between Monday and Friday, according to an agreement between the district and teachers’ union.

Once school begins, high-risk employees and those with high-risk family members can work from home “when positions are available.” But all teachers and paraprofessionals were expected to work on campus in the two weeks leading up to students’ return, according to the agreement.

The time was dedicated to training and planning before the 2020-21 school year begins for students.

So what happens if another school employee is exposed to COVID-19 in the coming weeks? What if a district employee starts feeling symptoms? It depends, according to the district guidance.

‘Employee COVID-19 Exposure Guidance’

If an employee tests positive for COVID-19, the employee would stay home “for at least 10 consecutive days” from the time symptoms arose, according to the district’s guidance.

He or she would then be allowed to return 24 hours after “recovery.” Recovery means a “resolution of fever without the use of fever reducing medications,” along with “improvements of other symptoms,” the district guidance states.

The school district modeled its guidance after the CDC’s recommendations. According to the federal agency, someone who has COVID-19 and the related symptoms can be around others after three conditions are met:

• Ten days pass since symptoms first appeared.

• Twenty-four hours pass with no fever (without the use of fever-reducing medications).

• Other COVID-19 symptoms, such as cough and shortness of breath, “have improved.”

People who test positive and have no symptoms can be around others after 10 days if they remain asymptomatic, the CDC reported.

Christopher Tittel, a spokesman for the county health department, repeated the same guidelines in response to questions from a reporter. “Testing is not needed for individuals to return to work,” he said on Friday afternoon.

“Most people do not require testing to decide when they can be around others; however, if your healthcare provider recommends testing, they will let you know when you can resume being around others based on your test results,” the CDC said on its website.

“People who are severely ill with COVID-19 might need to stay home longer than 10 days and up to 20 days after symptoms first appeared,” it continued. “Persons who are severely immunocompromised may require testing to determine when they can be around others.”

In total, the Manatee school district provided guidance for half a dozen scenarios.

• An employee tests positive for COVID-19: “Stay home for at least 10 consecutive days from symptom onset AND until 24 hours have passed since recovery. Once 24 hours have passed and employee has recovered with no symptoms,” he or she may return to work.
• An employee has direct exposure to a COVID-19 positive individual: “Isolate for 14 consecutive days. If employee showing symptoms, encourage testing. If testing negative and/or no symptoms, return to work on 15th day.”
• An employee is sick with symptoms of COVID-19: “Encourage testing. Seek medical attention. Isolate 14 consecutive days. If test negative and/or no symptoms, return to work on 15th day.”
• An employee had a “low-risk exposure,” meaning he or she was exposed “in passing” to a positive individual: “Employee will work and monitor symptoms. If employee develops symptoms, seek medical attention.”
• An employee lives with someone who has symptoms of COVID-19: “Employee will work and monitor symptoms. If employee develops symptoms or co-habitant tests positive, employee will seek medical attention.”
• An employee lives with a COVID-19 exposed person: “Employee will work and monitor symptoms. If employee develops symptoms or co-habitant tests positive, employee will seek medical attention.”

Health experts have continually said that COVID-19 can be spread by people with no symptoms. Dr. Jennifer Bencie, head of the Manatee health department, reaffirmed that information during a news conference on Wednesday, calling the disease “highly contagious.”

“You can have it and not cough or sneeze or develop a fever,” she said.

Guidance from district and CDC officials seemed to rely heavily on the absence of symptoms to define “recovery” and gauge risk. In response to a question from the Bradenton Herald, CDC spokeswoman Jasmine Reed said the guidelines were based in current research.

“Available data indicate that persons with mild to moderate COVID-19 remain infectious no longer than 10 days after symptom onset,” she said.

Concerns and preparations continue

The school district is forming a “District Operations Center” at the administration building in downtown Bradenton.

Barber, the district spokesman, said it would be a hub for “collecting, coordinating and responding to reported incidents of COVID-19 throughout the district.”

“It will be a central clearinghouse for information related to those reports,” he said. “We also use our Employee COVID-19 Exposure Guidance chart as the benchmark for handling investigations of reported cases.”

Pat Barber, longtime president of the local teachers’ union, said she was fielding daily concerns from Manatee County educators. According to her agreement with the district, signed by Superintendent Cynthia Saunders on July 29, the district agreed to “follow the current CDC guidelines by minimizing contact among staff.”

The district also agreed to provide all employees with the necessary PPE, or personal protective equipment, “as required by their current positions.” But some educators were afraid that products would be in short supply, Pat Barber said.

School board members will consider a $1.7 million request for COVID-19 supplies on Tuesday evening. That includes hand sanitizer, disposable gloves, antibacterial soap, disinfectant wipes, infrared thermometers, disposable masks, COVID-19 “signage” and Avistat-D disinfectant.

The request was among several pandemic-related topics on Tuesday’s board agenda. The meeting, scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m., also includes a discussion about rapid COVID-19 testing for employees and students.

“The most important thing to us,” the union president said, “is that teachers are given what they need to stay safe.”

This story was originally published August 7, 2020 at 4:16 PM.