Remote option considered as cases spike at GHS

COVID-19 cases have spiked at GHS this week, with 12 active cases and an unspecified, but growing, number of staff and students absent due to contact tracing or personal concerns. 

This increase has caused administrators to consider a transition to the fully remote model, which may occur at some point this week. 

According to an email from Principal Cook and Superintendent Ben Lummis, “We are actively considering next steps and may need to go remote later this week or the following week if more staff or students need to be out. We will communicate directly with families and students if any changes need to be made.” 

Beyond this, no specific information has been released on this subject. 

These events coincide with an overall jump in cases for the city. Data from the state, released on January 7th, states that the city is currently in the red zone and trending higher. 164 cases were tallied in the last 2 weeks, bringing the total number since last spring to over 1000, and the positivity rate is 6.22 percent. 

On the state level, viral spread has led to an estimated 90,567 active cases as of January 10th. And across the nation, the last week alone saw 1,714,070 cases and 21,919 deaths. 

For weekly COVID data summaries, check out our infographic.  

Back at the high school, no additional safety measures are being implemented (except the possible closure). Teachers will be reviewing current safety measures in homerooms. The protocol for students who don’t feel well is below, along the symptoms health officials recommend monitoring. 

Protocol: 

• Please continue to monitor your student for symptoms, and keep them home if they show any symptoms (COVID-19 Symptom Checklist here) or are not feeling well;
• If your student does not feel well, please contact Gloucester High School nurses, Leora Ulrich and Szilvia Vanderberg at [email protected], [email protected], and/or 978-281-9868;
• If your child is absent for a non-medical reason please contact the attendance office at [email protected] and/or 978-281-9867. 

COVID symptoms:

• Fever (100.0° Fahrenheit or higher), chills, or shaking chills (CDC has lowered the temperature from 100.4 to 100.0)
• Cough (not due to other known cause, such as chronic cough)
• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Headache when in combination with other symptoms
• Muscle aches or body aches
• Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
• Fatigue, when in combination with other symptoms
• Nasal congestion or runny nose (not due to other known causes, such as allergies) when in combination with other symptoms