Coronavirus Confirmed In Stratford; Schools To Close

STRATFORD, CT — A child in Stratford has been diagnosed with the new coronavirus, according to a message from the health department obtained Thursday by Patch. The news comes after officials announced earlier in the week that a Wilcoxson Elementary School student had been exposed to the virus and become ill.

Also Thursday, the school district announced it would close all schools starting Friday until further notice, according to a message to parents from Superintendent Janet Robinson. Field trips and activities are suspended until further notice. Wilcoxson had been closed as of Wednesday for extensive cleaning. Stratford officials announced a press conference set for 4 p.m. Thursday at Town Hall to provide additional information about the situation.

"Although we still consider the risk to students and faculty to be low, we are working with Public Schools to issue this school closure out of an abundance of caution," Director of Health Andrea Boissevain said in the health department message. "Contact tracing will take several days to complete and our main objective is to keep residents safe and slow the spread of the virus." (To sign up for Stratford breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

Anyone considered to be a close contact of the student diagnosed with the virus will be notified by health officials. When a person tests positive for coronavirus anyone who has come into direct contact with that person is typically asked to self quarantine for 14 days.

Symptoms of the new coronavirus include fever, cough and shortness of breath, according to the health department, which said the virus can be prevented by hand washing and covering coughs and sneezes.

Stratford's coronavirus case is the fifth to be diagnosed in Connecticut. The governor has declared a state of emergency and many area school districts and colleges have announced closures or switches to online-only learning.

The Stratford school district has the option to submit a waiver to the state to count distance learning days as part of the school year, but Robinson did not address the possibility of a remote learning plan in her message Thursday.

For more information, visit www.townofstratford.com/coronavirus. Questions can be sent to health@townofstratford.com.