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Date: March 2, 2020
To: Superintendents and Principals
From: Colt Gill, Director of the Oregon Department of Education and Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction
RE: Update 3-2-20: Information on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
This message will provide you with additional news and updates regarding novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Oregon. This is the third message since February 27. Please read through the “Oregon Update” and “New Information” sections.
While the spread of novel coronavirus is troubling, we must remind ourselves that fear, rumors, and stigma do nothing to stop the further spread of the disease. Facts and science, proven public health measures and common-sense precautions in our personal lives are the best measures we can take to protect the people we serve.
The best source of information is the Oregon Health Authority (OHA). Their site also has links to the CDC and other resources.
If you are holding community meetings to educate your constituents please let us know and we can provide you with informational resources.
Oregon Update (March 2, 2020)
Second Case:
Yesterday evening OHA announced a second presumptive case of the coronavirus in Oregon. This second individual shares a home with the first patient—a Washington County resident—but did not require medical attention. This second presumptive case is now isolated at home.
This second presumptive case of the coronavirus was identified through OHA’s close contact tracing—a process through which health officials identify people who have come into close contact with the initial patient. Close contact is considered to be any time two people are within 6 feet of each other for a prolonged period of time.
This second presumptive case is one of nine tests that were completed over the weekend and returned on Sunday. The other 8 tests returned on Sunday came back negative.
Third Case:
At 10:05 this morning OHA released this information: Oregon health officials have identified a third presumptive positive case of COVID-19 among state residents. The third case is an adult Oregon resident from Umatilla County who is hospitalized in Walla Walla, Wash.
State and local health officials are moving quickly to contact people who may have been in close contact with the individual who tested as a presumptive positive case. The third case is not linked to travel to a part of the world with known cases of COVID-19. It is considered a case of community transmission.
The Oregon Health Authority will hold a conference call for media at noon Pacific Time regarding this case. The call-in number is 1-888-363-4734; code 8221070.
Preliminary reports indicate the Oregon resident attended a youth basketball game at a gymnasium at Weston Middle School, 205 E. Wallace St. in Weston, Ore., on Saturday, Feb. 29.
Under federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, other spectators who may have been in a closed environment with the individual would be considered “low-risk” exposures.
Athena-Weston School District officials have closed the gym and will conduct a deep cleaning out of an abundance of caution. The gym is physically detached from the rest of the school. Health officials do not consider the separate school building to pose any risk of exposure.
Oregon and Washington health experts are working together to determine if there are other locations where the individual may have interacted with other people in recent days, after symptoms of COVID-19 first appeared.
Health officials will announce if there are any additional locations where people may been exposed, if they are determined.
New Information
Public Information and Support for School Districts
I know that families, students and staff have concerns about what is being done to address novel coronavirus. We have created a sample letter you can use to email your staff as well as other communications support. Please don’t hesitate to ask us questions and know we are doing everything we can to ensure the safety of students and education workers around the state.
ODE and OHA are partnering to provide information, FAQs, factsheets, social media tools, and templates for school districts to use for public information support. We will work to make these documents available in multiple languages.
- You can find these tools, including the sample letter, and other information on the ODE COVID-19 Resources Page.
- If you have specific questions in the meantime you can contact ODE Communications Director Marc Siegel.
- I also want to point districts to the communication efforts of Superintendent Lora De La Cruz and the team from Lake Oswego School District. Check their website for model language, they did an outstanding job sharing difficult information.
SUPERINTENDENTS: Request from Colt Gill, Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction
Superintendents, please check for an email from me (Colt Gill), with the subject “Cell Phone Request”, that was sent on Saturday, February 29 at 11:22 AM. If you have not complied with this request yet, please do so today. It has already proved invaluable at being able to reach district and ESD leaders and connect you with health authorities.
Also, I introduced a new protocol late last night. Whenever a small district is notified I will also ensure the related ESD superintendent is notified so that they can provide additional support as needed.
Please let me know if you have questions and reach out anytime day or night.
Relevant Information from Previous Coronavirus Memos
Key Recommendations:
- Deferring to local public health authorities to determine whether students should stay home if they suspect COVID-19.
- Preventing stigma and discrimination by using only the guidance described by your local and state public health authorities.
- Routinely cleaning all frequently touched surfaces in the workplace, such as workstations, countertops, and doorknobs.
- Emphasizing the importance of staying home when sick, respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene by all students.
Background
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is responding to an outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel (new) COVID-19 that was first detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China and which, as of February 26, has been detected in 37 locations internationally, including the United States. The virus has been named “SARS-CoV-2” and the disease it causes has been named “Coronavirus disease 2019” (abbreviated “COVID-19”). It is important to note that there are many types of coronaviruses that look similar to the common cold. Not everyone diagnosed with a coronavirus has COVID-19. COVID-19 is new, which means health officials are still learning about the disease, its transmission and effects. Officials do know that COVID-19 can cause severe respiratory illness. This memo specifically addresses COVID-19.
On January 30, 2020, the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee of the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern”. On January 31, 2020, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the nation’s healthcare community in responding to COVID-19.
How to support students
What to do when students are sick and preventative measures
- Emphasize staying home when sick, respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene by all students. Visit the coughing and sneezing etiquette and clean hands webpage for more information.
- School nurses, principals, and other school staff should review OHA and ODE’s Communicable Disease Guidelines to understand appropriate protocols for prevention and potential exclusion.
- If a student has a confirmed case of COVID-19, the school should consider how best to inform the school community of potential exposure in a way that does not breach confidentiality or result in stigma or discrimination. Please work with your local public health department to respond appropriately.
Perform routine environmental cleaning
- Routinely clean all frequently touched surfaces in the school, such as student desks, countertops, and doorknobs.
Review your pandemic influenza and outbreak plans
- Oregon Health Authority encourages communities, schools and businesses to review existing plans and make sure they are up-to-date. If you do not have a plan, now is the time to develop one. All outbreaks are reportable, including those that occur in work, school or camp settings. Oregon Health Authority has a toolkit to support schools in outbreak detection and management.
Supporting students unable to attend school
- All education stakeholders should consider the effects of significant absences on student achievement and establish plans that not only ensure health and safety, but also maintain continuity of learning to the degree possible.
- Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, if a student is required or advised to stay home by public health authorities because they are regarded as having, or potentially having, COVID-19, the school district must maintain continuity of learning by providing educational services to that student.
- School officials should defer to public health authorities to determine whether students should stay home if they suspect COVID-19. If school officials themselves require or advise students to stay home for demonstrating symptoms, according to ODE and OHA’s Communicable Disease Guidance, the school district likewise must maintain continuity of learning. Schools should think creatively about how to sustain student learning and achievement during prolonged absences and how to provide needed additional academic supports upon the student’s return. If a student with a preexisting disability is required or advised to stay home by public health authorities, the school must ensure that the student continues to receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE) and may need to convene the student’s individualized education program (IEP) or 504 team to determine how to do so.
Preventing stigma and discrimination
- School officials should defer to the CDC guidance for risk assessment and local and state public health authorities to determine risk of COVID-19 infection. To prevent stigma and discrimination, use only the guidance described by your local and state public health authorities. Do not make determinations of risk based on race, ethnicity, or country of origin, and be sure to maintain confidentiality of people with confirmed COVID-19 infection. Schools should also plan to support students who return from travel to affected areas, particularly if they have experienced quarantine.
Bullying and harassment
- School officials should be mindful that bullying of students based on actual or perceived race, color, national origin, or disability can be considered race- or disability-based harassment that violates federal civil rights laws. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 require that every school district or school that receives federal funds take immediate and appropriate action to investigate or otherwise determine what occurred when responding to reports of bullying and harassment of students based on actual or perceived race, color, national origin, or disability.
Students and travel
- Public health authorities are currently conducting health evaluations for all travelers returning to the US from China, and have been monitoring since February 3rd. Students who have returned from China within the last 14 days, have been exposed to COVID-19, and/or have symptoms should be in contact with their local health department and their health care provider.
- Schools should not plan any field trips or other travel-related activities to China or South Korea. Currently, the CDC recommends that travelers avoid all nonessential travel to China and South Korea (Warning Level 3) and that some vulnerable populations (including older people and those with chronic health conditions) should reconsider travel to Iran, Italy, and Japan (Alert Level 2).
How to support staff
Actively encourage sick employees to stay home
- Employees who have symptoms of acute respiratory illness are recommended to stay home and not come to work until they are free of fever and any other symptoms for at least 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing or other symptom-altering medicines. Employees should notify their supervisor and stay home if they are sick. Please review ODE and OHA’s Communicable Disease Guidance.
Separate sick employees
- CDC recommends that employees who appear to have acute respiratory illness symptoms upon arrival to work or become sick during the day should be separated from other employees and be sent home immediately. Emphasize staying home when sick, respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene by all employees. Visit the coughing and sneezing etiquette and clean hands webpage for more information.
Perform routine environmental cleaning
- Routinely clean all frequently touched surfaces in the school, such as student desks, countertops, and doorknobs.
Responding to employees who have been exposed or who are sick
Resources from the Oregon School Boards Association (OSBA)
You are likely going to get questions about your district’s communicable disease plan, how families will be notified if a student is exposed and how makeup work is handled. Please be prepared with those plans and answers and post them on your website and consider sending via your communication channels.
Most school districts in Oregon use model policy from the Oregon School Boards Association (OSBA). Districts are required to have an Emergency Procedures and Disaster Plan which should include procedures related to a virus outbreak See Policy EBC/EBCA. If you do not have this policy in place you can contact the OSBA for additional information.
Districts also have policies related to communicable diseases and students (see policy JHCC and Administrative Rule JHCC-AR) and communicable diseases and staff (see policy GBEB and administrative rule GBEB-AR). If you do not have this policy in place you can contact the OSBA for additional information.
Governor’s Coronavirus Response Team (CRT)
On February 28, Governor Kate Brown convened a Coronavirus Response Team (CRT) tasked with coordinating state and local agencies and health authorities in preparation for response to the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. The team will build on the work of the Oregon Health Authority’s (OHA) coronavirus incident management team to prepare Oregon to respond to any potential outbreaks of the disease. I represent ODE and our state’s school system on this team and will provide ongoing updates to school districts and ESDs.
Public Health Recommendations and Resources
For complete recommendations, visit the CDC website and OHA’s website.
Everyone can do their part to help be prepared for this emerging public health threat:
- It’s currently flu and respiratory disease season. Many of the everyday precautions we take to prevent flu are useful in protecting against the spread of COVID-19.
- Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue and then throw the tissue in the trash.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds. If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Clean and disinfect surfaces that are often touched.
- Additionally, build your body’s overall health resilience by eating well, exercising, getting plenty of rest, and staying up to date on vaccines. CDC recommends getting a flu vaccine each year and it is not too late to be vaccinated.
- CDC has issued travel warnings for several countries. Individuals planning to travel outside of the US should check CDC’s website prior to travel and follow any recommendations provided.
- People who have traveled to affected areas, have been exposed, or have symptoms should call their local health department and their health care provider to decide if they need to be seen. If so, they can create a plan to enter a clinic in a way that avoids being around others. Please follow instructions during this time from your local public health authority.
Waivers for Instructional Hours
Oregon does have standards for instructional time (OAR 581-022-2320). However, school districts can also petition for a waiver of instructional time standards. A request for a waiver must be made in writing to the deputy superintendent of public instruction. The request must specify the reason the district is seeking the waiver and other relevant information. ODE will work closely with any school or district-wide emergency closure resulting from efforts to control an infectious disease outbreak.
Your district should consider the effects of significant absences on student achievement and establish plans that not only ensure health and safety, but also maintain continuity of learning to the degree possible.
Who to contact if you have questions or concerns
After reading this memo, you may still have questions or concerns. Work with your local health department, which will have information and resources to help you.
Questions
Your questions are welcome, contact: ODE Communications Director Marc Siegel.
Resources:
- OHA Information on COVID-19
- OHA Guidance on Preventing COVID-19
- Local Public Health Authority Directory
- ODE COVID-19 Resources
- CDC Updates and Information
- School District Planning for Pandemic Influenza Planning
- Guidance for Schools and Daycare Centers on Outbreak Detection and Management
- SAMHSA Coping with Stress During Infectious Disease Outbreaks
- CDC Helping Children Cope with Disasters
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ODE and OHA’s Communicable Disease Guidance
This information has been adapted from the Oregon Health Authority, The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Department of Education.
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