Another Coronavirus Case Closes Enfield High School Monday

ENFIELD, CT — A new confirmed case of coronavirus prompted school officials to close Enfield High School to in-person classes Monday, with students following the Wednesday remote learning schedule.

In a message sent Sunday evening to families and staff, Superintendent of Schools Chris Drezek said "a member of the Enfield High School community" had tested positive for the virus; he did not specify whether the person is a student, teacher or staff member.

In a followup letter to families, Drezek wrote, "The affected person has been instructed to remain home in self-isolation for 10 days and has been provided with additional instructions to follow prior to returning to school. Family members have also been instructed to self-quarantine and get tested. The last day this person was in Enfield High School was Tuesday September 22, 2020. Anyone who is considered a “close contact” with this person has been contacted or will be contacted by school or local health officials and provided with instructions on the appropriate steps to take."

Another followup letter said, "The closure affects all school programming, including before- and after-school activities, all athletic and extracurricular practices and competitions."

Drezek's original message follows:

"Today, we were notified of a confirmed positive COVID-19 case with a member of the Enfield High School community. We are working in direct contact with our local director of public health and are actively following our contact tracing protocols. As an extra level of precaution, Enfield High School will be closed for in-person learning tomorrow, Monday September 28th, to provide the district enough time to properly notify all direct contacts. Like last week, the size of the student population of Enfield High School and the fact that students are not in cohorts, this extra precaution is necessary. The school administration will be notifying any member of the community who could be considered a close contact as soon as possible. Students will be asked to follow our Wednesday remote learning schedule for tomorrow Monday September 28th. I will be sending two letters to all families and staff shortly that will provide more details, but I wanted to get you this message as soon as possible. I was hopeful that our closure last week would be an isolated incident, but unfortunately these are the circumstances we have to deal with during this difficult time. Please understand that the safety and health of our students and staff is our greatest priority and we will continue to do everything possible to provide the safest environment we can."

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