Saucon Valley HS Student Tests Positive for COVID-19
A Saucon Valley High School student has tested positive for COVID-19, the district confirmed in an email that was sent to parents Tuesday.
A Saucon Valley High School student has tested positive for COVID-19, the district confirmed in an email that was sent to parents Tuesday.
According to the email from district superintendent Dr. Craig Butler, the student tested positive Tuesday after first exhibiting symptoms of the illness Saturday.
Butler said the student has not been in school this week.
The school was informed of the student’s diagnosis by the student’s parent, he added.
“We are following our quarantining procedures as specified in the District Health and Safety Plan,” Butler wrote in the email. “We are in the process of determining close contacts. Any affected families and students will be notified as quickly as possible. Furthermore, I have informed the Department of Health and will be following any further guidance they recommend moving forward.”
In late September, another Saucon Valley High School student tested positive for the coronavirus, and a week later a district teacher was also confirmed to have the disease.
In the past month, case numbers have continued to rise across Northampton County and Lehigh County as well as Pennsylvania.
The 2,751 new cases of COVID-19 reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Health Tuesday smashed the previous record for new cases confirmed during a 24-hour period, set back in April when the state was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Since it began, nearly 200,000 Pennsylvanians have tested positive for COVID-19 and approximately 8,700 people across the state have died from the illness.
According to the site CovidActNow.org, Northampton County on average is currently confirming 35 new cases a day while Lehigh County is confirming an average of 50 new cases a day. Those numbers mean both counties are confirming more than 10 cases per 100,000 residents per day; a statistic which is considered high and a potential risk factor for an outbreak.
Lehigh County currently has the fourth highest infection rate in the state, after Elk, Luzerne and Schuylkill counties, according to the site, which put it at 1.24 as of Tuesday.
That means that on average, each person with COVID-19 in the county is infecting 1.24 other people.
CovidActNow labels infection rates of 1.10 to 1.39 “unsustainable.” Once the infection rate for an area surpasses 1.4 it is considered “critical,” according to the site’s metrics.
Due to a campaign visit to the Lehigh Valley by President Donald Trump Monday, some medical experts have expressed concern about the potential for worsening spread of COVID-19 in the area, since Trump’s rally was attended by thousands of supporters.
The primary means of preventing the disease’s spread continue to be regular hand washing, social distancing and the use of masks in businesses and other public places.
“Please continue to practice good hygiene protocol per CDC recommendations,” Butler urged families in his email about the new case at Saucon Valley High School. “We also thank you in advance for your continued cooperation with masking and social distancing.”
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