2 NB School District Staffers Test Positive For Coronavirus

NORTH BABYLON, NY — Two staff members from the North Babylon School District were confirmed to have coronavirus this week, officials announced on Tuesday. The first was reported by the employee of North Babylon High School on Monday. That first employee has not been in the building since schools closed down on March 13. The second self-reported case was confirmed for a Woods Road Elementary School employee Tuesday.

"At this time, we have no information of any students with a confirmed case," Superintendent Glen Eschbach wrote in a letter to the community. "We anticipate that the number of cases of COVID-19 to increase over the next few days to weeks due to increased testing and continued spread. Understandably, this information can be overwhelming depending on when the message comes and the emotional state the receiver of this message is in."

While Eschbach states that due to privacy laws, no further details can be released about the individuals or reported information. The Suffolk County Department of Health opened an investigation and will notify anyone determined to be in close contact with those who tested positive.

With 25,665 cases, New York has five times more than anywhere else in the nation. There are 3,234 people hospitalized in the state and 756 receiving intensive care treatment.

On March 15, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announced that all schools will be shut down for two weeks starting on March 16. North Babylon schools closed down the Friday before out of an abundance of caution. The district will be conducting another deep cleaning of all school buildings following the news of the two positive cases.