City School District Of Albany: Oct. 4 COVID-19 Cases

Press release from City School District of Albany:

October 4, 2021

The City School District of Albany was notified of 16 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our schools between Friday and Monday.

The first four cases involve Albany High School. The first and second individuals are associated with ninth grade and were in the building on Sept. 21 and Sept. 29. The third individual is associated with eleventh grade and was last in the building on Oct. 1. The Albany County Health Department has identified no additional contacts with these three cases, and all are in quarantine. The last individual is associated with tenth grade and was last in the building on Sept. 29. The health department has identified five additional contacts; one of the contacts is vaccinated and does not require quarantining; all the rest are quarantining at home.

The fifth through ninth cases involve Albany School of Humanities (ASH). The fifth and sixth individuals are associated with third grade and were last in the building on Sept. 28 and Oct. 1. The health department has identified four additional contacts with each of these cases. The seventh and eighth individuals are associated with prekindergarten and were last in the building on Sept. 24. The health department has identified one additional contact with each of these cases. The ninth individual is associated with fifth grade and was last in the building on Sept. 27. The health department has identified one additional contact with the case. All ASH individuals and contacts are quarantining at home.

The tenth case involves an individual associated with both ASH and Pine Hills Elementary School. The individual was last in both buildings on Sept. 28 and is quarantining at home. The health department has identified no additional contacts with the case.

The 11th case is associated with fourth grade at Delaware Community School. The individual was last in the building on Sept. 23. The health department has identified seven additional contacts; all are quarantining at home.

The 12th through 14th cases involve Sheridan Preparatory Academy. The 12th individual is associated with third grade and the 13th individual is associated with fourth grade. Both were last in the building on Sept. 29, and the health department has identified no additional contacts with either case. The 14th case involves an individual associated with fifth grade who was last in the building on Sept. 29. The health department identified one additional contact with this case. All the Sheridan Prep individuals and contacts are quarantining at home.

The fifteenth case is associated with tenth grade at Tony Clement Center for Education. The individual was last in the building on Sept. 24 and is quarantining at home. The health department has identified one additional contact who is vaccinated and does not require quarantining.

The sixteenth and final case is associated with kindergarten at Thomas O’Brien Academy of Science and Technology (TOAST). The individual was last in the building on Sept. 27; the health department has identified 10 additional contacts. All are quarantining at home.

Health and safety procedures at all district buildings continue to include cleaning and sanitizing nightly. We will continue with these procedures, and also will continue to follow all required COVID-19 precautions (wearing masks inside all district buildings, hand hygiene, social distancing of 3 feet or more in all classrooms, and other precautions).

We also would like to remind everyone of steps you can take to help be safe:

• Signs of COVID-19 are: fever, fatigue/tiredness, muscle/body aches or pains, congestion, cough, runny nose, shortness of breath/difficulty breathing, nausea/vomiting or diarrhea, headache, loss of taste or smell, rash, feeling sick or unwell in any way.
• You can get a COVID-19 test by calling the New York State Department of Health COVID-19 Hotline at (888) 364-3065, or Whitney M. Young Jr. Health Center at (518) 407-0172 or (518) 465-4771.
  • You also can find resources here:
    • https://covid19screening.health.ny.gov/
    • https://www.wmyhealth.org/covid-19-updates/covid-19-testing/ 
• In alignment with the recommendations of federal, state and local health and medical professionals, the City School District of Albany strongly encourages everyone 12 and older who is eligible and able to get a COVID-19 vaccination.
  • You can find information about COVID-19 vaccinations on the Albany County Health Department website:
    • https://www.albanycounty.com/departments/health/coronavirus-covid-19/vaccination 

This press release was produced by City School District of Albany. The views expressed here are the author’s own.