Riverhead Central School District has reported three additional COVID cases among its staff.
Two non-instructional staff members — one at Riverhead High School and another at Roanoke Avenue Elementary School — have tested positive, as has a teacher at the high school, Interim Superintendent Christine Tona said in a letter to district families today. The letter was posted on the school district’s website.
“Due to the high number of close contacts with other staff members and the Thanksgiving holiday, Roanoke Avenue Elementary School will be closed until Monday, Nov. 30,” Tona wrote. Teachers will provide remote instruction during the closure, she said.
This was the first COVID case at Roanoke Avenue Elementary School, which had been the only building in the district that had not yet had a positive case, according to N.Y. State Health Department data.
More coverage of the coronavirus pandemic
Riverhead schools have had nine confirmed coronavirus cases so far this school year, according to the state data — in addition to the infections that recently affected the district’s transportation department. The district has not disclosed the number of confirmed cases in the transportation department and the department is not listed on the state’s “school COVID report card” website. Tona did not respond to a request for additional information about the transportation department cases, including a request for the number of employees affected.
“After receiving a positive test, each staff member is required to quarantine pursuant to the Suffolk County Department of Health Services (SCDHS) guidelines and will not return to school until the district receives clearance from the SCDHS,” Tona wrote in the letter published today.
“The district will notify those who are identified as being in close contact and issue quarantine orders if applicable,” she said.
Today’s news about new confirmed cases in the school district came as County Executive Steve Bellone warned residents that the virus is
“surging” again in Suffolk County and there is “large community spread” that must be brought under control or the county will face new restrictions on social and economic activity.
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