Four Lynden Middle School students test positive for COVID-19, district officials say
Four students at Lynden Middle School tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend, the school district said in a letter to families.
Three of the students who tested positive were in sixth grade and one was in seventh grade, Lynden School District officials said.
They were tested late last week and received results over the weekend, according to the letter that was sent to families on Tuesday, Jan. 19.
The students were all in different groups, or cohorts, and on a hybrid schedule, meaning that students learn online and in the classroom, coming to school every other day so that they’re not all on campus at the same time.
In its letter, the district said that close contacts of the students — someone who was within 6 feet for 15 minutes or longer within a 24-hour period — would have to quarantine for 14 days from the date they were exposed.
Officials told The Bellingham Herald that no one had to be quarantined.
“Most of the individuals who tested positive were not at school during their contagious period. After contact tracing, it was determined that none of the individuals established any close contacts,” said Tim Metz, director of Student Services and COVID-19 lead for the Lynden School District.
Officials don’t believe the students contracted the illness at school.
“We continue to work with the health department on case investigation, but it does not appear that the source of transmission was at school for any of these cases,” Metz said.
Overall, the Lynden School District’s COVID-19 dashboard has reported 14 separate incidents since the week of Oct. 12-16 and a total of 18 cases — seven incidents and 10 cases have occurred in 2021. Of those 14 incidents, half have required classes to be temporarily closed and students to return to remote learning.
The Whatcom County Health Department said last week that 80% of known transmission sources continue to be from social events and within households.
New data released by the health department on Tuesday, Jan. 19, revealed that the region covered by the Lynden School District was one of two in Whatcom County with infection rates well above 1,000 new cases per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks. The other region was the area covered by the Nooksack Valley School District.
The county health department releases weekly data on the location of COVID-19 cases using school districts as geographical boundaries.
The students with COVID-19 will not be able to return to school until their contagious period has passed, which is 10 days after symptoms began and 24 hours after fever and symptoms improve without the use of medication, according to the letter.
“Lynden Middle School and all schools in the district take our health protocols very seriously,” Metz said to The Herald. “ This means daily health attestations, requiring masks, frequent washing of hands and social distancing.”
District officials explained how they control students’ movements when they’re on the middle school campus in order to control the spread of COVID-19:
▪ Students are in the same classroom cohort that travels to two or three different classrooms during the day.
▪ Transitions are staggered to minimize hallway traffic and to keep students 6 feet apart.
▪ Students wash or sanitize hands when they enter a new classroom.
▪ All desks and chairs are sanitized between cohorts.
▪ Students come in the morning and only for their core classes.
▪ Their electives occur remotely during the days when students are home.
▪ They are on a hybrid schedule, so half of the student body is on campus at the same time, split between A-L or M-Z last names. “This allows for effective health screenings and social distancing,” Metz said.
David Rasbach contributed to this story.
This story was originally published January 20, 2021 at 6:20 PM.
