Following up on his earlier communication regarding COVID-19 from Aaron Crook
COVID-19 Health and Safety Compliance Liaison, shared the District's updated COVID-19 communication process and protocols.Crook said, "The goal of our COVID-19 communication is to provide transparent, actionable public health information that protects individuals’ rights and privacy while allowing you to make personal decisions."
Please read updated protocols below:
The process: Every time we learn that a member of our school community tests positive for COVID-19, we have a discussion with RPS Medical Advisor, Dr. James Ahern, and Town of Ridgefield Director of the Department of Public Health (DPH), Ed Briggs. We review relevant information about the case, including the date of exposure (if known), the onset of symptoms (if any), and the positive test date. We then apply the relevant facts to applicable protocols from the Connecticut Department of Public Health. We will follow this process to determine if a “significant exposure” has occurred or not (as defined by the CDC, a significant exposure is spending 15 minutes within 6 feet of an infectious individual). Regardless of the outcome, we will alert the RPS community and share the name of the school. If we determine that there has been a significant exposure, we will also reach out to individuals in the building to begin contact tracing protocol. At the end of this letter you will find links to CT DPH Contact Tracing Protocols, which we use in collaboration with our local DPH.
The current events: The individual mentioned in yesterday’s communication was a member of the East Ridge Middle School community. As reported, the individual was not infectious at the time they were in the school building and no significant exposure occurred at school. Per Connecticut Department of Public Health protocols, given the date of exposure, symptom onset, and positive test result, the individual was not in the building on a day when they were infectious. We understand that you may want to know this information to make personal decisions.
Future communications: Going forward, we will continue to send alerts to the full RPS community each time any member of our school community tests positive for COVID-19. We will continue to alert the community and communicate whether a significant exposure occurred at RPS or not, and we will also share the name of the building in which the individual resides.Please continue to reach out with additional questions or concerns. We appreciate your communications, meaningful feedback, and support.
Links:
CT DPH Contact Tracing recommendations
CT Addendum 9 Contact tracing