3rd Confirmed Coronavirus Case In Wallingford School District

WALLINGFORD, CT — A person who rides the bus in the Wallingford school district has tested positive for the coronavirus, officials announced Thursday.

“In working with the Wallingford Health Department and in direct consultation with the State Department of Public Health, it was determined that the COVID-19 confirmed case was in close contact with one or more people while on the school bus,” Superintendent of Schools Salvatore Menzo wrote in a message to the school community. “A close contact for a bus scenario, this means that an individual was seated within 6 feet of the person who tested positive for COVID-19 for at least 15 minutes. Please note that not all students will be considered close contacts on a given bus due to where they were sitting. We are using bus charts that are kept each day to determine the close contacts. Again, only families with students identified as close contacts will be notified. Entire buses will not be notified due to this specific and detailed contact tracing process.”

The Wallingford Public School District, in collaboration with the Wallingford Health Department and the State Department of Public Health, initiated a case investigation and contact tracing activities to identify all individuals who may have been in close contact with the case. Only individuals identified as close contacts will be notified directly, according to the message.

The district isn’t providing more information on the case in order to maintain confidentiality, according to Menzo.

Two people associated with Dag Hammarskjold Middle School tested positive for the virus, officials announced earlier this week. The school was closed for two days after officials were notified on Sunday that a person associated with Dag had tested positive for COVID-19. All students participated in distance learning on Monday and Tuesday while the school was closed.

In a message to parents on Thursday, Menzo said that schools will not necessarily close if there is a confirmed case of COVID-19.

“Schools may or may not be closed due to confirmed COVID-19 cases due to the circumstances of each individual case,” Menzo said. “The only reason a school will be closed is to conduct contact tracing. That may take time and therefore a school may need to close. We will do our best to not close schools; however, we must also do our best to identify all close contacts to avoid the potential spread of the virus.”

Menzo again stressed that all students and staff wear masks and said they must monitor their personal health each day and “stay home if experiencing any symptoms.”

“Again, I cannot stress the importance of wearing a mask enough to all students and all staff members,” Menzo said. “This is our best way to mitigate the spread of the virus. Masks cannot have slits, zippers, or holes of any type in them.”