Delmar Elementary Goes To All-Virtual Due To COVID Concerns
Three staff members at Delmar Elementary School have recently tested positive for coronavirus, and the school will switch to entirely virtual instruction starting Monday.
According to Wicomico County Public Schools, School Health Services followed established protocols when it learned of the positive cases and reported them to the Wicomico County Health Department. Contact tracing has also been done to identify and inform any known individuals who may have had close contacts with the people who tested positive.
Learning at Delmar Elementary School will be virtual for the next two weeks.
A statement issued by Wicomico County Public Schools Sunday follows:
Wicomico County Public Schools has notified the Wicomico County Health Department of three positive COVID-19 cases in the staff of Delmar Elementary School. The school is immediately shifting to virtual learning for the next two weeks as a health and safety precaution. School families and staff were informed of the change in instruction in a call from the school principal
Sunday afternoon.
As soon as Wicomico Schools became aware of the positive cases, School Health Services followed established protocols and reported the cases to the Health Department, which monitors COVID-19 case numbers. Contact tracing was immediately conducted.
Wicomico Schools has already:
ļ· begun informing known close contacts of the COVID-19 positive persons of their
possible exposure during close contact (within 6 feet) for a total of 15 minutes or more
within each 24-hour period, starting from two days before the infected person became
symptomatic or had a positive COVID-19 test. Close contacts are being informed in a
phone call from School Health Services staff, with a letter about specific health protocols
to follow.
ļ· informed school families and staff associated with the school that due to the COVID-19
cases, instruction will be all virtual starting Monday, Nov. 16. In-person instruction is
expected to resume on Monday, Nov. 30, for all grades served by the school.
Recommended health protocols are being followed for those testing positive or showing
COVID-19-like symptoms, and for those who had close contact with either person. Extensive
cleaning and disinfecting are ongoing in the school building. While the school building is closed,
Delmar Elementary will not serve as a meal site, until further notices. Meal bundles may be
picked up at any Wicomico school on any school day. The closest school sites to Delmar
Elementary are North Salisbury Elementary and Salisbury Middle.
School system staff and students take a prescreening health questionnaire each day before
reporting to a school or worksite. They are required to wear proper Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE) at all times while in a school or on a school bus, and must maintain physical
distancing of 6 feet or more whenever possible. While these measures are designed to
minimize the spread of the virus, no method of prevention or protection is guaranteed to be
100% effective.
The Wicomico County Public School System is now providing weekly updates on the number of
COVID-19 cases in schools, on the WCPS COVID-19 Dashboard:
https://www.wcboe.org/domain/2645.
