Pentwater school employee tests positive for COVID-19.

Pentwater school employee tests positive for COVID-19.

By Allison Scarbrough, Editor

PENTWATER — A Pentwater Public School employee has tested positive for COVID-19, said Superintendent/Principal Scott Karaptian.

The employee “wasn’t feeling well” and went to work March 12 and 13 at the school. The person, whose age and gender are not being released, was never hospitalized, Karaptian said. The person was tested for COVID-19 March 16, and the results were released today, March 26. “They are feeling much better and doing well.”

The employee has no recent history of international travel, he said.

“Today, March 26, 2020, we were notified by District Health Department #10 that a low-risk exposure to SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 may have occurred in our middle and high school,” said Karaptian in a press release. “This exposure occurred in the math and science classrooms on March 12 and 13, 2020.

“Representative from the health department #10 stated that others in the school are much less likely to be at any risk since close and prolonged contact is needed to catch COVID-19,” Karaptian said. “Since most people that are exposed to this virus are sick within five days, and at the longest 14 days, anyone who could have gotten sick from this exposure should be showing signs of illness by now.”

“If your child has a fever or cough or problems breathing, call your health care provider for advice or you can go to the CDC coronavirus self-checker (link here). This holds true for any of our students and their families that are ill. To help keep this virus from spreading, we encourage you to continue to follow social distancing and current stay-at-home orders as well as other control measures.

“We will continue to keep all of our students, staff and families informed of any new information as it becomes available.”

District Health Department #10 had released information Thursday morning that a person tested positive for COVID-19 in Oceana County. It was not immediately clear if the Pentwater school employee is that person.

More information will be released when it is available.

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