COVID-Infected Child Sent To School By Parents: More Than 80 Students Potentially Exposed

A child who was infected with COVID-19 was sent to school by parents, potentially exposing more than 80 students to the virus on the first day of classes at Marce Herz Middle School in Reno, Nevada.

The child and parents had tested positive for COVID-19 just two days earlier, according to the Washoe County Health District, as reported by CNN. The Reno-Gazette Journal said the child attended school for two days before it was discovered that they had tested positive for the virus.

The Washoe County Health District is not bringing charges against the parents, saying in a statement obtained by CNN, “We are not seeking to invest our limited resources in bringing charges against the parent at this time. We are seeking cooperation from our community members."

The health district continued by saying that the parents refused to communicate with the agency or school officials. Additional information about the student or parents was not provided.

The Washoe County School District is allowing the COVID-infected child to quarantine at home and begin remote classes on Tuesday, the news outlet said.

Marce Herz Middle School Principal Brandon Bringhurst told parents of students impacted by the COVID case in a letter on Tuesday, obtained by CNN, that their children may return to in-person classes immediately if they are fully vaccinated with proof of inoculation. Affected students may also take a COVID-19 test on or after Aug. 14, with negative results or if they have no symptoms and return to the school on Aug. 17, the news outlet said.

"We are asking everyone, especially parents with children in Washoe County schools, to please cooperate with disease investigators regarding positive COVID-19 cases," the health district said in a statement, as reported by the Reno-Gazette Journal

"It’s imperative that we collect information from positive cases in order to reduce transmission in the community,” the agency continued.

Marce Herz Middle School opened Monday to all students. The school implemented a face mask policy for students, staff, parents, and visitors in all indoor buildings regardless of vaccination status, according to a state directive.

The school reopened in August 2020 amid the pandemic, rotating students in and out of its building every other day to accommodate social distancing guidelines, the Reno-Gazette Journal said. The school can house up to 1,400 students in grades six through eight.

Washoe County, Nevada, has 58.08% of residents aged 12 and older fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the health district. The county has a virus positivity rate of 17%, with a 2.6 times increase in COVID cases in children up to 17 years old from June to July, the health district said, as reported by CNN. The country has reported over 49,400 positive cases of the virus and 698 COVID-19 deaths to date.