A total of 30 high school students in Attleboro are under quarantine after a student with COVID-19 came to school on Monday, the first day of classes. School officials didn’t learn of the student’s positive test until Tuesday.
WCVB obtained an email sent out by Attleboro High School Principal Bill Runey, who said that because the reporting system didn’t report the positive case to school officials until after the student had already attended school, authorities were unable to stop the exposure. He maintained that it didn’t have to do with the precautions the school district has in place.
School Superintendent David Sawyer also said this in a statement, noting the “inevitable moment is stressful for many,” according to the news station.
“The guidance from the state cannot ensure a virus-free environment, especially considering we know that some carriers are asymptomatic,” he said. “While measures like contact tracing and daily prescreening help to reduce this threat, our safety precautions are ultimately designed to prevent the spread of the virus under these precise circumstances. We will have to wait for the end of the quarantines to be certain we were successful, but there is no reason at this moment to assume differently.”
Students believed to have been in close contact with the student were notified.
Get Boston.com’s e-mail alerts:
Sign up and receive coronavirus news and breaking updates, from our newsroom to your inbox.
