PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT NEWS
The Public Education Department on Oct. 14 announced 21 new positive cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. Rapid response has been initiated, and all pertinent information has been verified with the schools and school districts. The following new cases have been reported:
§ Three cases in Bernalillo County. Two of the infected individuals are students who were last on campus Aug. 6 and Sept. 29. The other infected individual is a staff member who was last on campus Sept. 17. All staff members and the parents and guardians of all students in the affected school have been notified of the positive cases.
§ One case in Chaves County. The infected individual is a student who was last on school property Oct. 2. All staff members and the parents and guardians of all students in the affected school have been notified of the positive case.
§ Three cases in Curry County. The infected individuals are staff members who were last on school property Sept. 28 and Oct. 8. All staff members and the parents and guardians of all students in the affected school have been notified of the positive cases.
§ Three cases in Doña Ana County. All of the infected individuals are staff members who were last on school property Oct. 2, 7, and 9. All staff members and the parents and guardians of all students in the affected school have been notified of the positive cases.
§ Two cases in Eddy County. One of the infected individuals is a staff member who was last on school property Oct. 1. The other infected individual is a student who was last on campus Sept. 29. All staff members and the parents and guardians of all students in the affected school have been notified of the positive cases.
§ Two cases in Lea County. One of the infected individuals is a staff member who was last on school property Oct. 9. The other infected individual is a student who was last on campus Oct. 8. All staff members and the parents and guardians of all students in the affected school have been notified of the positive cases.
§ Two cases in McKinley County. One of the infected individuals is a staff member who was last on school property Oct. 13. The other infected individual is a student who was last on campus Oct. 1. All staff members and the parents and guardians of all students in the affected school have been notified of the positive cases.
§ One case in San Juan County. The infected individual is a staff member who was last on school property Oct. 13. All staff members and the parents and guardians of all students in the affected school have been notified of the positive case.
§ One case in San Miguel County. The infected individual is a student who was last on school property Oct. 2. All staff members and the parents and guardians of all students in the affected school have been notified of the positive case.
§ One case in Santa Fe County. The infected individuals is a student who was last on school property Oct. 6. All staff members and the parents and guardians of all students in the affected school have been notified of the positive case.
§ Two cases in Torrance County. Both of the infected individuals are students who were last on school property Oct. 2 and Oct. 8. All staff members and the parents and guardians of all students in the affected school have been notified of the positive cases.
All “close contacts” will be informed of the positive case(s) and instructed to quarantine for 14 days. Affected classrooms and facilities will be cleaned and disinfected. Staff must be tested if symptomatic or a “close contact;” however, staff members will not be required to present a negative test result in order to return to work. Symptomatic staff may return to work after 10 days plus 24 hours after the fever is gone and COVID-19 symptoms have improved. Asymptomatic staff who have been “close contacts” may return to work after a 14-day quarantine.
The PED has collected this data since Aug. 17; since then, 348 total cases have been reported in 179 schools. Of those, 230 have been staff members and 118 have been students.
Since schools began operating in the hybrid mode on Sept. 8, 229 cases have been reported in 141 schools, including 147 staff members and 82 students.
For additional information about COVID-19 safety in schools, please visit: https://bit.ly/SafeSchoolsNM.