The City School District of Albany was notified Tuesday of nine new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the district.
The first and second cases involve members of the Giffen Memorial Elementary School community. One individual is associated with fourth grade and was last in the building on Dec. 15. The other individual is associated with fifth grade and has been in a fully remote environment. Both individuals are quarantined at home. The Albany County Health Department has advised that there is no need for contact tracing in either case.
The third case involves a member of the Philip Schuyler Achievement Academy community. The individual is associated with third grade, has been in a fully remote environment and is quarantined at home. The health department has advised that there is no need for contact tracing.
The fourth and fifth cases involve members of the Sheridan Preparatory Academy community. One individual is associated with third grade and was last in the building on Dec. 16. The other individual is associated with fourth grade and was last in school on Dec. 23. Both individuals are quarantined at home. The health department has advised that there is no need for contact tracing in either case.
The sixth case involves a member of the William S. Hackett Middle School community who has been in a fully remote environment. This individual is associated with sixth grade and is quarantined at home. The health department has advised that there is no need for contact tracing.
The seventh, eighth and ninth cases involve individuals who were on First Student buses that serve Giffen and Montessori Magnet School. In the seventh case, the individual was last on the bus on Dec. 23. The seventh case affected Giffen, and the health department identified four contacts. In the eighth case, the individual was last on the bus on Dec. 23 and both Giffen (11 contacts) and Montessori (18 contacts) were affected. All these individuals are quarantined at home. In the ninth case, the individual was last on the bus on Dec. 14 and the health department determined there is no need for contact tracing.
All potentially impacted individuals from each building and bus have been contacted; the health department has indicated that there are no other steps necessary at this time.
Health and safety procedures at all district buildings and on buses include cleaning and sanitizing nightly. We will continue with these procedures, and 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 daily via the email address on file for parents and guardians. More information is 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:
