NEWAYGO, Mich — Newaygo High School temporarily closed Monday, Sept. 21 due to three positive COVID-19 cases, according to Newaygo Public Schools (NPS) Superintendent Peggy Mathis.
Mathis said the affected individuals do not ride school buses or have family members at other NPS buildings. Thus, the elementary school and middle school would both stay open.
"This is out of an abundance of caution and will give us time to complete contract tracing and make a decision about the rest of this week," Mathis said. "The key is contact tracing. We’re not going to stop this virus, but if we can actively contact trace it certainly helps us and our health department do our job."
According to Mathis the school plans to return to session on Tuesday.
Parents of students who have been in close contact with affected individuals are being contacted. The district is partnering with the health department to ensure proper contact tracing, isolation and quarantine needs are met.
Dr. Jennifer Morse, Medical Director of District 10 Health Department said the closure was to be expected and that parents at schools across the state could expect similar closures throughout the year.
"I think it would be amazing if schools could make it through the whole year without a case of COVID. Honestly though I think every school and every parent should expect that their school will have at least one case of COVID in it if not several," she said.
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