(Photo courtesy Frances Willard Elementary)
USD 470 administration recently learned that some individuals at Frances Willard Elementary in Ark City were exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19, according to a news release from the district.
The City-Cowley County Health Department guided the district to suspend in-person learning for one class at Frances Willard for 14 days.
The affected individuals have already been contacted and were asked to isolate at home for that duration and to continue learning remotely. In-person learning for that class is tentatively scheduled to resume on Sept. 29.
Frances Willard Elementary is located at 201 N. 4th.
“The school district has been following state and local health guidelines and we will continue to take steps to protect our students, staff members, and their families,” USD 470 Superintendent Dr. Ron Ballard said.
“We understand there may be questions but in an effort to protect privacy rights, no other identifying information will be released,” Ballard added. “We will continue to monitor this situation and take guidance from officials to determine any further necessary action.”
The school district encourages families to monitor their health and to report potential COVID-19 symptoms to their physician or the health department.
According to the City-Cowley County Health Department website Tuesday morning, 286 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the county since the pandemic began. Active cases have risen to 40.
However, the county health department’s total and the state’s total continue to differ.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported Monday a total of 302 cases for Cowley County since March.
Recoveries in Cowley County now number 243 and county-wide deaths remain at three.
The county has tested 4,374 people as of Tuesday morning. Cowley County has a population of 34,908 people as of July 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Statewide, cases have reached 49,899, according to KDHE, including 2,572 hospitalizations, 534 deaths and 408,482 negative tests since a national emergency proclamation was issued by the White House on March 13.
Over 458,000 people have been tested in Kansas since March. The state population is just over 2.9 million.
KDHE reports 167 total cases confirmed so far in Sumner County, 803 in Butler County and 8,040 in Sedgewick County.
Kay County, Oklahoma, has totaled 442 cases so far and deaths have increased to 13.
For the state of Oklahoma, cases have reached 70,223 and deaths now number 905.
