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Covid-19: New High School On Long Island Forced To Close Due To Virus Exposure

A staff member at one of Long Island’s most highly acclaimed high schools was exposed to COVID-19 and forced the building to be temporarily closed.

Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School

Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School

Photo Credit: Google Maps street view

Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School was closed on Thursday, Sept. 24 to allow the school to contact trace and disinfect the building after a staffer tested positive.

Schools Superintendent Mary O’Meara said that the district was informed of the positive test late on Wednesday, Sept. 23, and contact tracing has begun. 

The infected staffer will not be permitted back in the building for 10 days following a negative COVID-19 test.

The late notification of the positive case forced students to transition to remote learning on Thursday.

O’Meara said that anyone deemed to be a “close contact” to the infected staffer will be notified by the school district or the Nassau County Department of Health as they continued contact tracing and determine who has been exposed.

Anyone who may have come into contact will be advised to quarantine for 14 days and should be tested for COVID-19 after that as a precaution.

 A “close contact” has been defined by the CDC as anyone who was within six feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes.

“As we conduct our contact tracing and until the Department of Health has completed its investigation, students are reminded to adhere to social distancing rules, wear face masks when unable to maintain six feet of distance, and avoid social gathering among groups of (other students),” O’Meara said.

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