12 Summit HS students have COVID-19 after big party; free testing offered Friday
(Update: Case number confirmed; details of testing, letter about Summit girls' soccer team; Bend High cohort exposure)
Free COVID-19 testing Friday at Pilot Butte; girl's soccer team affected
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Bend-La Pine Schools released the details of free COVID-19 testing being offered on Friday amid an outbreak involving at least a dozen Summit High School students after a large weekend party.
Meanwhile, Summit's principal informed parents that someone associated with the girl’s soccer team was among those who have tested positive for the virus.
Here's the letter sent to Bend-La Pine families on Thursday evening:
Bend-La Pine Schools and Deschutes County Health Services have teamed up to offer a free rapid COVID-19 testing clinic for local students, staff, and families on Friday, February 12 at Pilot Butte Middle School in Bend.
Deschutes County Health Services
Free rapid COVID-19 testing
Friday, February 12
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Pilot Butte Middle School Gymnasium*
1501 NE Neff Rd
*This event is being held at Pilot Butte Middle School due to its central location and accessibility, not due to any nexus of cases within the school.
Those who plan to attend the event are asked to complete this survey, which will aid in staffing and testing supply planning. The survey simply asks that you share the number of persons in your family who plan to partake in the event tomorrow.
This testing event is being held to help identify and assess the potential presence of COVID-19 in the school community and the community as a whole; to encourage any children or adults who attended gatherings unmasked and without practicing social distancing, over the weekend, to take advantage of the free testing; to provide tests to anyone who was not at a gathering but was in contact with someone who was; and for the broader school community to obtain a COVID-19 test at no cost and without a physician appointment.
District and County COVID-19 case investigators are continuing to contact trace COVID-19 exposures (potentially both primary and secondary exposures) following a large party in Bend over the weekend.
At the time of the writing of this message, students from one area high school appear to be among a cluster of 12 COVID-19 positive youth, identified in the last +/-24 hours, who may have connections to the party. There are currently no other known clusters of students.
You are encouraged to send your students and/or family members to this event if they may have had contact with someone five or more days ago who has since tested positive for COVID-19. Those under the age of 15 will need the consent of a parent or guardian to complete testing. Test results will be available approximately 15 minutes after your test is complete.
HEALTH SAFETY RESPONSE TO WEEKEND GATHERINGS
In addition to being tested for COVID-19, individuals who attended, or who plan to attend, gatherings where social distancing and masking are not in place are urged to isolate. We also encourage any other household members of these persons to quarantine to help protect the public. We encourage all families to review the attached documents to learn more about Isolation and Quarantine .
Deschutes County Health Services also encourages anyone who may have been in contact with a person or persons positive with COVID-19, and/or who live with elderly or medically fragile family members, to consider isolating from those family members and assume the youth or adult may be contagious.
Deschutes County Health Services has staff available by phone to answer questions about COVID-19, isolation, and quarantine. You can contact them at (541) 699-5109. You are also welcome to contact your school nurse or principal.
For more information about your test and results, please check out these two informational flyers: Understanding your Test Results and Thanks for Getting Tested.
Sincerely,
Dr. George Conway
Director of Deschutes County Health Services
Lora Nordquist, interim Superintendent
Bend-La Pine Schools
Meanwhile, Summit Principal Michael McDonald informed Storm girl soccer players and families on Thursday that they learned someone associated with the team has been diagnosed with COVID-19. That person was last at soccer practice on Monday.
While the district assesses exposure and risk levels, contacting people as appropriate, the school asked the athletes to quarantine at home until the investigation is complete.
While Summit also sent a letter to parents of Cohort B students about a possible exposure, Bend Senior High Principal Christopher Reese sent a letter Thursday indicating students in Cohort A may have been exposed to someone diagnosed with COVID-19 who was at the school on Monday.
That makes Bend High the seventh Bend-La Pine school to send home letters regarding COVID-19 exposures. Others include Summit and Mountain View high schools and High Lakes, North Star, Elk Meadow and La Pine elementary schools.
Earlier story:
Just three days into a return to in-person classes, Summit High School returned to distance learning Thursday and will offer free testing Friday after a number of positive COVID-19 cases, possibly tied to a party last weekend attended by dozens of local youths, officials said.
Principal Michael McDonald, who sent home a letter earlier Wednesday about a single positive case of COVID-19 at the school, sent a second to parents later Wednesday evening, saying that parents had reached out and made the school “aware of additional positive cases of COVID-19 in our community.”
“Out of an abundance of caution,” McDonald wrote, “and in partnership with health officials,” Summit was closed Thursday for in-person classes, as well as athletics and activities, so the school and Deschutes County health officials can conduct more case investigation and contact tracing.
Students returned to comprehensive distance learning Thursday, as well as Friday, the latter day announced late last week throughout the district so educators and school staff can receive their second COVID-19 vaccine doses. All athletics and activities are canceled over the Presidents Day weekend.
McDonald said the school and county health officials were working to offer free testing Friday for people who believe they have been exposed. The Deschutes County Health Department expects to test anywhere from 50 to 100 students.
Deschutes County Health Department Environmental Specialist Emily Freeland told NewsChannel 21 on Thursday that the testing will be specifically for students who may have come in contact with other students who have tested positive. Freeland also said the timing of the test is crucial.
“If I was exposed yesterday, and then I take a test today, even if I have COVID-19, I won’t test positive," Freeland said. "So we really want to focus on the students that felt that they may have been exposed last weekend. They would want to test now, because they are going to have the most accurate results.”
Parents were urged to send students to the event, if they believe they may have been in contact with someone with COVID-19. The principal also said school sanctions won’t be levied against students who get the test and may have been at the party.
“To say that I am disappointed that dozens of local youths were in attendance at a confirmed party, unmasked and crowded together, would be a gross understatement,” McDonald wrote, adding that “it remains quite plausible that the party may have created a ‘super-spreader’ environment, jeopardizing our ability to return to school and school-related events."
Bend-La Pine Schools Director of Communication and Safety Julianne Repman told NewsChannel 21 that similar letters about individual cases were sent Wednesday to Mountain View High School parents and previously to parents of students at High Lakes, North Star, Elk Meadow and La Pine elementary schools.
And here's McDonald's earlier letter about a positive COVID-19 case who was at the school Tuesday:
