PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT NEWS
The Public Education Department on Oct. 16 announced 20 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:
§ Four cases in Bernalillo County. Two of the infected individuals are students who were last on campus Oct. 6 and Oct. 15. The other two infected individuals are staff members who were last on school property Sept. 30 and Oct. 7. 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 Chaves County. The infected individuals are both students who were last on school property Oct. 8 and Oct. 12. 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 Curry County. All three infected individuals are staff members who were last on school property Oct. 2, Oct. 8 and Oct. 15. 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. 6 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.
§ One case in Lincoln County. The infected individual is a student who was last on school property Oct. 9. 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 Luna County. The infected individuals are all staff members who were 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 cases.
§ One case in Mora County. The infected individual is a staff member who was last on school property Oct. 8. 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 Juan County. The infected individual is a staff member who was last on school property Oct. 14. 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 Sierra County. The infected individuals are students who were last on campus Oct. 2. 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, 383 total cases have been reported in 192 schools. Of those, 250 have been staff members and 133 have been students.
Since schools began operating in the hybrid mode on Sept. 8, a total of 264 cases have been reported in 157 schools, including 167 staff members and 97 students.
For additional information about COVID-19 safety in schools, please visit: https://bit.ly/SafeSchoolsNM.