Saucon’s ‘Mask Breaks’ Put on Hold, More COVID-19 Cases Reported

One of the compromise solutions built into the education plan for Saucon Valley students returning to in-person classes in August–amid the COVID-19 pandemic–was something called a mask break, when students were permitted to take off their face masks for 10 minute periods during the day.

Amid Pennsylvania’s record-breaking surge in new cases, effective immediately those breaks are being suspended until further notice, school district superintendent Dr. Craig Butler said in an email to families Sunday.

Beginning Monday, Dec. 7, students are only permitted to remove their masks at school when eating or drinking, Butler said.

Approximately 80 percent of Saucon Valley students attend in-person classes five days a week, in one of the few local districts that offers full in-person schooling as an option. With an enrollment of nearly 2,500 students, that equates to approximately 2,000 students.

According to Butler’s email, the decision to pause the mask breaks came out of a meeting between administrators and teachers last week, at which resuming in-person instruction this week and some aspects of the district’s COVID-19 Health and Safety Plan were discussed.

“During our conversation we talked about enhancing our mitigation strategies as we move toward the holidays and beyond,” Butler said. “With that said, a recommendation was made to temporarily curtail masking breaks K through 12 until further notice. … This suggestion was met with much approval from the faculty.”

“The safety of our students, faculty and staff is of the utmost importance,” he added. “We appreciate your understanding and support as we work together to do our best to maintain our blended model of instruction utilizing in-person and remote learning.”

Butler also indicated that another five cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Saucon Valley schools over the weekend, including four in the high school and one in the middle school. Including another high school case Butler alerted parents to on Saturday, the total number of cases in the elementary, middle and high schools since the school year began now stands at 20. The distribution of the cases among the schools is as follows:

• Saucon Valley High School – 15
• Saucon Valley Middle School – 1
• Saucon Valley Elementary School – 4

Monday marked the first day that Saucon Valley students who attend in-person classes were back in classrooms since Wednesday, Nov. 25. Students were off Thursday and Friday, Nov. 26 and 27, for the Thanksgiving holiday, and studied remotely last week as a precaution to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in schools following the traditional gatherings in which many families participated.

Prior to last week’s district-wide pause on in-person learning, Saucon Valley High School was twice closed due to COVID-19 cases: once for a week in late September and a second time–for two weeks–in early November.

Beyond the new case numbers Butler is regularly announcing, school districts are limited in the amount of information they can release regarding COVID-19 cases because of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which by law forbids them from releasing identifying details about patient health records.

The incubation period for COVID-19 symptoms can last up to 14 days, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, although it recently reduced the quarantine period for anyone who’s had a potential exposure to the virus from 14 to 10 days. The Associated Press reported last week that most people who contract COVID-19 developed symptoms and became infectious between four and five days after exposure, according to research.

In all of the recent cases reported in Saucon Valley schools, Butler said it was determined that the individuals who tested positive did not have close contacts within the schools.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health is responsible for contract tracing, which is a process involving notification of individuals who may have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

The department reported nearly 15,000 new cases on Monday; a number that includes the daily totals from the previous 48-hour period.

“As of 12 a.m., Dec. 7, there were 6,330 new cases, in addition to 8,630 new cases reported Sunday, Dec. 6,” the news release said.

An additional 69 deaths from COVID-19 were confirmed Saturday. Along with 42 more deaths confirmed Sunday, they brought the total death toll in Pennsylvania to 11,373.

According to CovidActNow.org, Northampton County is currently reporting an average of 66.6 new cases per 100,000 residents every day. With a population of 310,000 that equates to approximately 203 new cases a day, based on a seven-day rolling average. That is the highest that statistic has ever been, and close to the “Severe” category for an outbreak, as defined by CovidActNow. Currenlty 19 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties meet at least one criteria for having a severe outbreak of the disease, one of which is a daily new case total of 75 or higher (per 100,000 residents).

The website puts the ICU headroom in the county at 66 percent, using a formula that weighs the number of intensive care beds that are forecast to be needed by COVID-19 patients against the number of ICU beds currently in use.

“Northampton County, Pennsylvania has about 20 ICU beds,” it reported Monday. “Based on best available data, we estimate that 25 percent (five) are currently occupied by non-COVID patients. Of the 15 ICU beds remaining, we estimate nine are needed by COVID cases, or 66 percent of available beds.”

According to the Department of Health’s COVID-19 dashboard, more than 220 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Northampton County Sunday.

Over the weekend, the county surpassed 10,000 confirmed cases since the pandemic began in March.

The county hosted a free COVID-19 testing site at the William Penn Highway Park ‘n Ride facility through Sunday, as part of a state health department effort to make more testing available in areas in which surging case counts are of particular concern.