Important Message from the SSCPS Health Office

Good afternoon. It has come to the attention of the school that a student has tested positive for COVID-19. The student has not been in school during the believed  infectious period. However, we are notifying all SSCPS families in case anyone in your family starts to display symptoms of COVID-19. Those symptoms include:

• Fever (100.0° Fahrenheit or higher), chills, or shaking chills
• Cough (not due to other know cause, such as chronic cough
  
• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
  
• New loss of taste or smell
  
• Sore throat
  
• Headache, when in combination with other symptoms
  
• Muscle aches or body aches
  
• Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
  
• Fatigue, when in combination with other symptoms
  
• Nasal congestion or runny nose (not due to other known causes, such as allergies) when in combination with other symptoms

Though we cannot provide specific information about our school community member who tested positive, your child was not a close contact in our school environment.  The Massachusetts Department of Public Health defines close contact as:

• Being within 6 feet of a COVID-19 case (someone who has tested positive) for 10-15 minutes. Close contact can occur while caring for, living with, visiting, or sharing a healthcare waiting area or room with a COVID-19 case while the case was symptomatic or within 2 days before symptom onset, or
  
• Having direct contact with infectious secretions of a COVID-19 case (e.g. being coughed on) while not wearing recommended personal protective equipment. 

Our first priority is to keep our school community safe. In response to this situation, our Health Office has followed all local Public Health, MDPH, and DESE guidelines and protocols. Because the school has transitioned to full remote learning for most of our student population, there is no additional action required at this time. However, should additional communication  become necessary,  we will share that with you. 
Please do not hesitate to contact the Health  Office with any health questions you may have. 
Sincerely,
Susan Dupras [email protected]