NEW PALESTINE, Ind.–An incorrect return-to-school date is being blamed for a New Palestine High School student going to class with coronavirus Monday.
The Hancock County Health Department notified Southern Hancock administrators of the student’s positive test after that student was at school on the first day. School leaders say the doctor wrote the wrong date on the note with the student’s test results, and that the student’s quarantine should have lasted longer.
“We immediately put in our positive test protocol, which is to locate and isolate that student as quickly as possible and to begin the contact tracing process,” said Wes Anderson, Community School Corporation of Southern Hancock County spokesperson.
Administrators say they used tracing through seating charts to identify anyone with whom the student had close contact. They didn’t give the exact number of students that student came into contact with, but said it was a small number since the positive test was identified early in the day.
Administrators also say all parents were notified by email about the new positive case and encouraged to monitor their child for symptoms, something the district has been asking parents to do every morning before sending their kids to school.
Classes went on as scheduled Tuesday.
It is the second case of a New Palestine High School student testing positive for the virus. Last week, a student who plays football came back with a positive coronavirus test. That student and other players who had been in close contact with him have all been quarantined for a 14-day period, says Anderson.
