CCSD, charter board silent on child of coronavirus patient
The Clark County School District and the State Public Charter School Authority said Thursday that there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 among their students but did not address whether the child of a Southern Nevada man who tested positive for the disease attends one of their schools.
The school districts’ statements were issued in response to news media inquiries after the Southern Nevada Health District announced that the first presumptive-positive COVID-19 patient in Nevada has a child in school. Dr. Fermin Leguen, the district’s acting health officer, did not identify the school or the district but said the student was being kept out of school and monitored and had not shown symptoms of the disease.
Neither the CCSD nor the charter authority board’s statements said whether the child of the patient, described only as a man in his 50s who had recently traveled to Washington and Texas, was among their students.
“Any individuals who may have been in contact with the identified presumptive case are under monitoring by health authorities,” a statement from CCSD said.
The Review-Journal requested additional information from CCSD and charter authority officials about whether they have been contacted by the health district and whether there has been any known exposure to coronavirus within their schools.
Neither would expand on their statements.
In a message to parents, the district also announced Thursday that it will suspend all out-of-state and international travel for students, “effective immediately and until further notice.” On social media, parents pointed out that the decision would affect imminent trips to Disneyland and performances by band programs.
The message said district leadership will work with individual schools to determine potential options for rescheduling.
Most cases of COVID-19 produce only in mild flu-like symptoms, and the disease has been more dangerous in older patients.
But the presence of the illness in communities in Washington and California has led to school closures, with other schools turning to online learning as a means of minimizing risk.
Contact Aleksandra Appleton at 702-383-0218 or aappleton@reviewjournal.com. Follow @aleksappleton on Twitter.