Morristown High School, which announced last week that an individual there had tested positive for the coronavirus, is switching to all-remote instruction from Tuesday, Sept. 29, through Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, after another person has developed symptoms.
Thirty-seven people are being quarantined for 14 days.
“Today, we were informed that a close contact of this person, who is also a member of the Morristown High School community, is displaying symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and is awaiting test results,” Principal Mark Manning said Monday in a message to parents.
In what it described as “an appropriately conservative approach,” the Morris School District explained:
Contact tracing has been ongoing since Friday, and all close contacts have been notified directly. We continue to work in partnership with our local health department to monitor this situation carefully. Thirty-seven people are currently being quarantined for at least fourteen days. Any close contacts of the individual who tested positive will be required to produce a negative COVID-19 test, taken after day 14, before returning to school.
In-person extracurricular activities including sports events are postponed, Manning added.
“We will update everyone regarding the status as soon as possible (by Thursday at the latest),” the principal said.
For any student who tests positive, “it is critical that you inform your child’s school as early as possible so that we can respond quickly and determine the scope of contact tracing necessary to mitigate transmission within our district community,” the school district told parents.
No further details have been released about the individual who tested positive or the person with symptoms.
Earlier this month, pupils from a class at Hillcrest Elementary School were required to quarantine at home for 14 days after someone at that school tested positive for COVID-19.
This story has been updated with additional details from the Morris School District.
