Efforts to stop COVID spread appear to be working here

LAUREL — While much of Cedar County and Nebraska are seeing increased numbers of COVID-19 cases, the Laurel-Concord-Coleridge School District is beginning to see reduced numbers of students and staff members being impacted by the disease, Supt. Jeremy Christensen said.

Christensen said the school facilities continue to be a safe place for staff and students, noting that it appears most people who are subject to quarantine, have had close contact with infected individuals outside of the school.

“This helps to reinforce the effectiveness of our school-based preventative measures and procedures, including mask requirements, social distancing, enhanced sanitizing and hand hygiene, as well as limitations on visitor access to school buildings,” he said.

As of Dec. 7, three students are in isolation because of a positive COVID test. One student is symptomatic and is awaiting test results, while 16 students are currently quarantined because they were in close contact with someone that had tested for COVID-19. Five more students are currently self-monitoring.

One staff member is currently in isolation after testing positive for COVID, while one other staff member is quarantined due to close contact with someone who has been diagnosed with the virus.

One other staff member is required to quarantine due to close contact, but is working as an essential critical worker.

In order to help stop the spread of the virus, Christensen urges area residents to stay vigilant in their efforts to keep the virus away.

”While the local impact of COVID-19 on our school community continues to show indicators of improvement, it remains important for everyone to continue with their efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19,” Christensen said.

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