The City School District of Albany was notified Friday that a member of the Giffen Memorial Elementary School community has tested positive for COVID-19.
The individual was identified Oct. 27 as a close contact of another person who tested positive and has been out of school since then. The district notified the Giffen community at that time.
The individual from Giffen, a member of one of the school’s in-person second-grade classrooms, will remain out of school until cleared to return in alignment with Albany County Health Department guidance. As a precautionary measure, all affected students and staff also have been at home since Oct. 28 and will remain in a virtual instructional model until cleared to return in-person.
The affected classroom has been cleaned and sanitized, and no additional steps are recommended for Giffen at this time, in alignment with health department guidance. All other Giffen operations are continuing normally.
Health and safety procedures at Giffen and all district buildings include cleaning and sanitizing nightly. We will continue with these procedures, and all buildings 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:
- Maintain a social distance of at least 6 feet at all times from those you don’t live with.
- Always wear a mask that covers both the mouth and nose when you are out of your home.
- Wash hands with soap and water frequently when out of your home. If you cannot use soap and water, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
- Don’t touch the eyes, nose or mouth unless your hands are clean.
- Complete the Student COVID-19 Screener each day before your child leaves for school, available from the Students/Families dropdown menu above.
- 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.
- You also can find resources here:
