November 1, 2020 --
Dear Parents,
We have been informed that a student at Medfield High School has tested positive for COVID-19. The student did participate with in-person classes during the infectious period, which is defined by the Department of Public Health as 48 hours prior to the beginning of symptoms, or if asymptomatic, 48 hours prior to the test collection. There are no in school close contacts for this student due to our classroom configurations, however, contact tracing is ongoing. It is critical for parents to notify the school nurses of any positive case as it allows us to begin contact tracing immediately. Delaying this notification puts our students and staff at risk.
What is a close contact?: Per Massachusetts DPH, if a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, their close contacts will be defined as only those who have been within 6 feet of the individual for at least 15 minutes, while the person was infectious. All close contacts should be tested but must self-quarantine for 14 days after the last exposure to the person who tested positive, regardless of the test result.
I will continue my practice of notifying all families of any positive COVID-19 cases instead of changing to only notifying the impacted building. The Medfield COVID-19 Dashboard will be updated every Friday morning at 10:00 AM with a breakdown by each school of current and cumulative COVID-19 positive cases.
Have a great week,
Jeff Marsden