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Parents advised that someone at Deerwood School has tested positive for COVID-19

Person who tested positive was at school Oct. 14-16 at a time when they may have been infectious but public health says the overall risk of exposure is low
deerwood school stock exterior

A second confirmed case of COVID-19 linked to a Thompson school was announced Oct. 21.

Parents and guardians of Deerwood School students received a letter from Northern Regional Health Authority (NRHA) public health advising that someone from the school had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and had been at the school Oct. 14-16 while they may have been infectious. People with COVID-19 may be infectious two days before symptoms develop.

The letter said the exposure risk was deemed to be low and that anyone identified as a close contact of the affected person has been contacted by public health and advised to self-isolate. The school remains open to all other students and staff.

Contact tracing divides people into three categories: close contacts, medium-risk contact and low-risk contacts. The first group includes anyone who spent 15 minutes or more within six feet of a person who has tested positive for the virus. Medium-risk contacts are those who were not that close to or were in the company of an infected person for a shorter period of time.

Close contacts are expected to self-isolate themselves and get tested if they develop COVID-19 symptoms. Medium-risk contacts are asked to self-monitor themselves, including taking their temperature twice a day, for two weeks, while low-risk contacts do not have to take any special precautions beyond those everybody is asked to take because they aren’t at any greater risk of infection than the general public.

Anyone whose child develops fever or chills, a cough, a sore throat or hoarse voice, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell or vomiting or diarrhea for more than 24 hours is instructed to isolate themselves from others and seek testing within 24 hours after symptoms appear. The same advice applies to anyone who gets two or more of the following symptoms: runny nose, muscle aches, fatigue, pink eye, a headache, a skin rash of unknown cause or a loss of appetite.

People with these symptoms who do not get tested must self-isolate for 10 days following the start of symptoms. Isolation can be discontinued after 10 days if the person has been symptom-free for 24 hours. 

The confirmed case of COVID-19 at Deerwood School is the second case connected to a school reported so far in Thompson. On Oct. 20, parents and guardians of R.D. Parker Collegiate students were advised that someone connected to the school had tested positive for the virus and had been at the school Oct. 15-16 when they may have been infectious.

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