Four days into classes, Columbia Falls High School dealing with coronavirus

Four days into classes, School District 6 finds itself dealing with its first exposure to a person with coronavirus.

It a letter to parents Thursday (Sept. 3) the district said “an individual associated with the district had a confirmed positive test for Covid-19. According to the Flathead City-County Health Department, the district’s staff and students were in contact with the individual during the period of possible exposure.”

Superintendent Dave Wick said the school and health officials have completed contact tracing and more than 20 but less than 30 individuals at the high school have been quarantined as a precaution.

The quarantined people are individuals that have come within six feet of the person since infection, he noted. Wick declined to comment on whether that included any staffers at the school.

The infected person was at the high school and is the only one with symptoms at this point, he noted. They were last at school Aug. 31.

The quarantined students will be afforded remote learning, Wick said.

Other than the quarantine, classes at the school are going as usual, he noted. The school has been requiring that all students and staff wear masks with few exceptions. Sports teams don’t wear masks while playing or practicing, for example.

The district has also been prescreening students for fever and other symptoms before entering the building.

On Friday, the state reported 12 new cases total in Flathead County. The county currently has 158 active cases total.