Hopatcong Staying Open Amidst Coronavirus Concerns

HOPATCONG, NJ - As districts arund the state close citing concerns with the encroaching novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, the Hopatcong School District will remain open, according to Superintendent Art DiBenedetto.

New Jersey Coronavirus Updates: Don't miss local and statewide announcements about novel coronavirus precautions. Sign up for Patch alerts and daily newsletters.

"Schools will remain open until we are directed to close by a governmental agency, the Sussex County Department of Health or the Department of Education," DiBenedetto said. "If we close without being directed to do so, those days will not count toward the 180 day requirement."

DiBenedetto also outlined other points of preparation:

• If directed to close, and we put fourth cyber instruction or packets of activities to complete, the days will count.
• Training for Google Classroom for grades 4-12 has been completed.
• If directed to close, we will have lunches delivered to the homes of free and reduced lunch students, hopefully by the second day of closure.
• We are still working on getting Internet access for the families that do not have it. Please call 973-398-8801 if you do not have Internet at home.
• Sport matches and games are cancelled; practices and after school activities will go on as scheduled.
• All events of outside groups are cancelled.
• Tricky Tray, March 27, is on. No students can attend.
• Parent Conferences are postponed.
• The HHS Drama production of Guys & Dolls has been postponed until June.
• The Superintendent's cell phone number is 862-266-3410 if you need to contact him over the weekend.
• Our plan for closure has been approved by the Executive County Superintendent.
• There is a strong possibility that we will be directed to close in the near future.

The district also posted a detailed, 14 minute video on the topic which can be found below.

Counting the new cases Friday, there have been 50 people diagnosed with presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in New Jersey as of Thursday afternoon, with one person dying from the disease. Gov. Phil Murphy has declared a state of emergency, and schools across the state have begun to cancel classes. READ MORE: NJ Coronavirus Updates (Here's What You Need To Know)
In general – depending on where they live – New Jersey residents still face a "low risk" of contracting COVID-19, State Epidemiologist Christina Tan said during a Wednesday press conference.
There have been more than 1,300 confirmed U.S. cases of the new coronavirus as of Thursday morning according to Johns Hopkins University, which said the disease also has killed 38 people nationwide.

• See related article: $8B To Fight Coronavirus; NJ Lawmakers Back Huge Spending Bill

WHAT IS COVID-19?

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

The disease, which apparently originated in animals, is now transferring from person to person, although the mechanism is not yet fully understood. Its symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, and many patients develop pneumonia. There is as yet no vaccine against COVID-19 it and no antiviral treatment.

According to the CDC, the best way of preventing the disease is to avoid close contact with people who are sick, to avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, to wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and to use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol if soap and water are not available.

To avoid spreading any respiratory illness, the CDC recommends staying at home when you are sick, covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue and throwing the tissue in the trash, cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces.

The CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a face mask to protect themselves from respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19. You should only wear a mask if a health care professional recommends it. A face mask should be used by people who have COVID-19 and are showing symptoms. This is to protect others from the risk of getting infected. The use of face masks also is crucial for health workers and other people who are taking care of someone infected with COVID-19 in close settings (at home or in a health care facility).

Residents who have questions about the virus can contact the State of New Jersey's hotline at 1 (800) 222-1222. The hotline is home of the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System, and is staffed 24 hours a day by state health workers.

Thanks for reading! Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Have a news tip you'd like to share? Or maybe you have a press release you would like to submit or a correction you'd like to request? Send an email to russ.crespolini@patch.com

Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter. You can also have them delivered to your phone screen by downloading, or by visiting the Google Play store.