The first case of COVID-19 has been reported in Okarche Public Schools.
An employee tested positive Thursday. The district had no cases reported before Thursday since the pandemic started in March.
Since school had been out since Monday due to the ice storm, no staff or students must be quarantined, said Superintendent Josh Sumrall.
Sumrall posted the following message Thursday:
To: Okarche Public Schools parents, staff and community members,
“Today, we received notification that an Okarche Public Schools employee has tested positive for COVID-19. While we must protect the privacy of the person involved, we believe it is best to communicate transparently with you so you can make well-informed decisions for your family.
There is nothing more important to Okarche Public Schools than the safety and health of our students, our staff and their families. We are working directly with county health officials to address this situation. They have conducted close contact tracing and because we have not been in school since Monday and the individual did not have symptoms until this morning, no one at school is required to quarantine because of close contact. School officials have been in contact with those individuals working close with the positive individual just for precautionary notice.
Okarche Public Schools will continue to communicate with county health officials and follow CDC guidelines. Again, our greatest priority is the safety of our children, staff and community members. It is important to remember that children are greatly influenced by the reactions of adults when facing difficult circumstances. I encourage everyone to remain calm and to be empathic and respectful to those affected.
We are grateful for the opportunity to serve you and your family, especially as we face this challenging situation together. Thank you for your support of Okarche Public Schools.”
The Oklahoma Department of Health has reported 69 cases of COVID-19 in Okarche with 55 people having recovered as of Friday.
Read The Okarche Warrior and okarchewarrior.com for updates.
