Oct. 7: COVID-19 reporting update

Notifying Our School Community of Positive Cases
In the event of a positive COVID-19 case in the Fort Plain Schools community, we will work with the county health department and will issue an email notification to all employees, and to families via ParentSquare and Remind. We will also post the information on our website.

Notification of a positive case will indicate the school the individual is connected to. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and other privacy laws restrict the district from disclosing or confirming any personally identifiable information, and we cannot identify anyone who has tested positive.

The county health department will reach out to all contacts of an individual confirmed to have COVID-19 and advise on the need to quarantine and arrange testing for those exposed.

COVID-19 Report Card
All schools in New York state, including Fort Plain, are required to submit a daily report to the state of any confirmed cases of COVID-19 linked to a school. The COVID-19 Report Card is available to the public on the New York State Department of Health website and also via a link on this webpage, and it includes daily case statistics from schools throughout the state.

The Fort Plain Central School District is required to report not only confirmed positive COVID cases connected to the school, but working with the county department of health, report instances where a person connected to the school district has shown symptoms of the coronavirus for at least 48 hours, but has not been tested or has not received a conclusive alternative diagnosis within that time. The department of health will determine the need to notify, quarantine and contact trace.

In addition, the state dashboard includes a number that is an estimate of “Lab Reported Positives based on Residential Address” as part of its school COVID Report Card. This estimate may differ from the number of cases that are directly related to the school district, and may include students who reside within the district, but do not attend Fort Plain schools. Individual school data on the dashboard is listed separately below this estimated number.

On Sept. 30, 2020, the New York State Department of Health released a Pre-K to Gr 12 COVID-19 Toolkit containing updated guidance related to student and staff attendance for those who are symptomatic or test positive for COVID-19. Under the revised guidance, the time frame for exposure to the virus, or exhibiting symptoms of the virus, has been decreased from 14 days to 10 days. “Close contact” has been defined to mean only those who have been designated as contacts by the local health department.

Regarding diagnosis, a note from a health care provider indicating a negative test result may be accepted in lieu of a copy of the test itself. However, a note from a health care provider that does not indicate a clear, confirmed alternative diagnosis for symptoms is not acceptable for return to school.