Dear Parents,
On behalf of the Superintendent, this message is to inform you of a possible coronavirus COVID-19 case in Cherokee County and additional Cherokee County School District preparations.
Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) officials this morning announced a Cherokee County adult has tested “presumptive positive” for COVID-19, and the results have been submitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for verification.
This adult does not have a household member who attends or works for CCSD, according to the DPH officials, who also stated: “the risk of COVID-19 to the general public remains low.” DPH is not recommending any CCSD school closures at this time.
It is likely there will be other “presumptive positive” and/or confirmed cases of COVID-19 among Cherokee County residents, and we do not plan to send you a notice about every case. These cases will be reported by DPH on its website here. Should there be a household connection to CCSD and/or a COVID-19 diagnosis among our students and/or staff, you would be notified immediately.
Public health officials continue to advise best every-day healthy practices like frequently washing hands and staying home when you are sick.
Since the initial cases in Georgia were announced, we have been working on additional steps to further improve our existing best practices. Custodians are being provided additional training focused on sanitizing high-touch areas (desktops, keyboards, bathroom fixtures, water fountains, door handles, etc.) with virus-killing products. Custodians will be working additional shifts to allow for more time to be spent on this sanitizing. We also are working through our Principals and school nurses to ensure students and staff understand and follow best every-day healthy practices like frequently washing hands.
We are committed to transparency and will continue to update our webpage at http://bit.ly/ccsdhealthinfo with COVID-19 information.
Barbara P. Jacoby
Chief Communications Officer
Cherokee County School District