Another COVID case at BVA

By KRISTIE LINDEN

klinden@yourmvi.com

Belle Vernon Area School District has alerted parents that another positive case of COVID-19 has been reported in its buildings.

According to a letter written by Superintendent Dr. Michelle Dowell, a known COVID-19 positive case was reported in both Marion and Rostraver elementary schools on Friday.

Dowell said that due to when the person was tested and when students were last physically in the buildings, the district does not have to do contact tracing in each building. 

For example, Dowell said, if a student tests for COVID on a Friday and the test comes back on a Tuesday, the state Department of Health would have the district do a two-day look back for contact tracing. That means the district would look at where the student who tested positive was on beginning on the Wednesday before the test.

If the student who has the virus was not in school during the Wednesday or Thursday before the test was taken, the district doesn’t have to do any contact tracing and it is not “considered a positive case in the district.”

“Please understand, these are the guidelines from the PA Department of Health and not the district,” Dowell said.

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