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8 students test positive for COVID-19 in Bay Area school after infected student attended class

2 mins read

A local elementary school in a Bay Area town recorded eight COVID-19 cases among its students after what the authorities said was a “knowing” violation of the pandemic policy.

One of the two siblings attending Neil Cummins Elementary School in Corte Madera tested positive for COVID-19 and was ordered to stay at home by a health care provider, the Marin Independent Journal first reported Friday. Marin County public health officials were also informed by the health care provider.

But on the week of Nov.8, the parents still sent the siblings to school, said Larkspur-Corte Madera School District superintendent Brett Geithman who talked to the Journal. The siblings also attended most of the week after it, and the school was shut for Veterans Day on Nov. 11.

More than a week has passed before the school officials were made aware of the COVID-19 case through the Marin County officials. They questioned why the pandemic dashboard of the district is not up-to-date.

Geithman told SFGATE that the children from two separate classrooms were given at-home COVID-19 tests and for the Thanksgiving break, they were required to undergo “modified quarantine”.

Eight students have tested positive but three were said to get the infection from the school. The confirmed cases were the first to be reported in the school since in-person classes restarted, Geithman told SFGATE.

“It shows that we have strict adherence to our COVID protocols which have proven successful for over 200 days,” Geithman said.

Students and teachers inside classrooms at Larkspur-Corte Madera schools are mandated to mask up indoors regardless of their vaccination status, the district website said.

The reporting of cases became the first of a “deliberate” protocol violation in the county schools during the health crisis, Marin County public health officers Drs. Matt Willis and Lisa Santora told the Journal.

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