Over the past weeks, West Middle School students and parents have been getting emailed many case identification letters about students catching COVID-19. The number of cases is similar this year compared to last year, but the difference is the number of close contact quarantines. They have gone down since students are wearing masks and staying 3 feet away from each other. “This has caused the average number of cases to go from 30-40 a week to just only 3 cases a week,” Mr. Smiley stated.

If students wear their masks the correct way and stay 3 to 6 feet apart from other students. “They will not have to quarantine if someone in their class catches COVID-19,” Mr. Smiley explained. “When a student catches COVID, they notify West Middle school and the nurse at West sends out a letter to students and their guardians informing them about the positive case,” Mr, Smiley explained. “Most cases of COVID-19 are coming from outside student activities like sports and sleepovers,” Mr. Smiley stated.

If 50 % of students were to catch covid, West Middle School would go virtual. “This means that at least one hundred students would have to be out with COVID-19,” Mr. Smiley explained. “To slow the rate of COVID-19, students need to be thoughtful of what they are doing outside of school,” Mr. Smiley stated. 

Please wear your mask.

Amare Horsley