Giffen COVID-19 update

  • Posted October 28, 2020
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Giffen Memorial Elementary School was notified late Tuesday night that an individual in our school community has been identified as a close contact of another person who has tested positive for COVID-19. 

The close contact at Giffen is a member of one of our in-person second-grade classrooms. This individual is now quarantined at home. All students and staff members associated with this individual also will remain at home until cleared to return in alignment with Albany County Health Department guidelines. The health department recommends no additional steps for Giffen at this time.

Health and safety procedures at Giffen all district buildings include cleaning and sanitizing nightly. We will continue with these procedures, and all buildings and buses district-wide also will continue to follow all required COVID-19 precautions (pre-arrival symptom screening and temperature screening for students and staff, wearing masks, hand hygiene, social distancing of 6 feet or more, and other precautions).  

We also would like to remind everyone of steps you can take to help be safe:

  1. Maintain a social distance of at least 6 feet at all times from those you don’t live with.
  2. Always wear a mask that covers both the mouth and nose when you are out of your home.
  3. Wash hands with soap and water frequently when out of your home.  If you cannot use soap and water, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
  4. Don’t touch the eyes, nose or mouth unless your hands are clean.
  5. Complete the Student COVID-19 Screener each day before your child leaves for school, available from the Students/Families dropdown menu above.
  6. DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD TO SCHOOL WHEN THEY ARE SICK OR HAVE SYMPTOMS:
  • Signs of COVID-19 are: fever, fatigue/tiredness, muscle/body aches or pains, congestion, cough, runny nose, shortness of breath/difficulty breathing, nausea/vomiting or diarrhea, headache, loss of taste or smell, rash, feeling sick or unwell in any way.
  • You can get a COVID-19 test by calling the New York State Department of Health COVID-19 Hotline at (888) 364-3065, or Whitney M. Young Jr. Health Center at (518) 407-0172 or (518) 465-4771.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact Principal Jasmine Brown at school at (518) 475-6650.