Bellingham elementary class returns to remote learning after positive COVID-19 case
A class at Birchwood Elementary School has returned to remote learning after there was one confirmed COVID-19 case associated with that class, Bellingham Public Schools confirmed to The Bellingham Herald on Wednesday, Nov. 18.
Dana Smith, spokesperson for the school district, said it was following protocol developed with the Whatcom County Health Department “to interrupt the spread and transfer of the virus.”
“In this case, that included changing the learning environment in an effort to keep that class safe and to not spread COVID-19 within the school,” Smith said in an email interview with The Herald. “Although we can’t control what happens in our wider community, we can control the safety and mitigation strategies we have in place in our schools.”
The class went back to remote learning on Monday, Nov. 16, and will continue in that mode until Nov. 30, she said.
Smith said she couldn’t provide more specific information requested by The Herald, including whether it was a student or educator who tested positive, what grade the class was in, how many will need to be tested and how many will have to quarantine or isolate.
“Due to privacy law for both children and adults, we are not able to share more details about the individual or close contacts who needed to be tested,” she said.
Smith said the district’s staff notified close contacts on Monday, Nov. 16, after the Whatcom County Health Department completed contact tracing.
Bellingham has brought kindergarten and first-grade students back to the classroom for in-person instruction as well as K-2 students who receive special education services in its Life Skills and BRIDGES programs.
As has occurred elsewhere in Washington state and the U.S., the number of new COVID-19 cases in Whatcom County has surged to record highs in recent days — caused primarily by social gatherings and illness within households, health officials have said.
As a result, Gov. Jay Inslee has ordered new statewide restrictions — although they don’t apply to schools — and health officials are sounding the alarm, asking people to avoid traveling outside the state and gathering with others outside their household for Thanksgiving, Christmas and other upcoming family holidays.
During the Whatcom County Health Department’s online media briefing last week, Director Erika Lautenbach said that about 20% of the county’s cases were traced back to formal settings, such as schools and workplaces.
All seven public school districts in Whatcom County have at least some students back in classrooms for in-person learning, with health and safety rules in place that include mask wearing, social distancing and checking students each day for symptoms.
Exactly how many COVID-19 cases have occurred at public or private schools in Whatcom County since some children returned for in-person classes is unknown.
The Whatcom County Health Department has declined to provide that information to The Bellingham Herald, citing patient privacy protections under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, often referred to as HIPAA, as well as its ongoing practice of not sharing industry- or employer-specific data.
The Bellingham Herald learned about the case at Birchwood Elementary School from a tip.
Schools becoming super-spreader events have been a concern. However, early data from K-12 schools suggest that while transmission is reported at schools, big outbreaks are not occurring as feared, according to a Nov. 5 article on the Association of Medical Colleges website.
But that preliminary data comes with caveats caused by still-evolving knowledge of the new disease, according to the article, which also notes that infections at schools are determined by transmission rates outside of the classroom — in short, that “school outbreaks typically come from the community.”
Smith said that Birchwood students “did not miss any learning days, and we are so appreciative of our chance to practice remote learning earlier this fall.”
The school district also followed the Whatcom County Health Department’s guidelines for communicating information about the positive COVID-19 case, Smith added.
“We follow their recommendations to share information with the appropriate set of people. We communicated directly with all identified direct contacts per the guidance of the Whatcom County Health Department,” she explained. “In the interest of transparency, we also communicated more widely with staff and families who are not direct contacts. We want our families to be aware of the protocols we have in place.”
This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 12:19 PM.
