As confirmed cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus spread this week in the United States, school leaders nationwide are preparing for their worst-case scenario emergency plans.
USA Today reports that some schools are already shutting down schools or considering online learning if the health threat persists. And some are simply saying: Wash your hands.
District leaders are right to emphasize hand washing, staying home if you’re sick and covering your cough with a sleeve or tissue, school and health leaders say. But they also should disclose their emergency plans to parents about what will happen if the virus becomes more widespread — even if it unnerves families.
Six patients with the virus had died in Washington state as of Monday night, and new infections were reported in California, Illinois, Rhode Island, New York and Florida over the weekend.
So far, the response from schools and health officials has varied depending on whether a locality has confirmed cases — and experts' views on how much action is appropriate is rapidly evolving. But the uncertainty of how far the virus will spread has put school leaders in a difficult spot of projecting a sense of calm while also acting with an abundance of caution for student safety.
"Everybody is in a state of alert," says Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators.
Domenech says his organization has advised superintendents to inform parents of their districts' emergency operations plans that may be carried out if the virus spreads.
"Last week I saw some districts had sent out messages to families that were pretty mild — like, there's not much to be concerned about, this may not happen. That's not happening anymore. Now it's absolutely something to worry about and it's absolutely going to happen, it's just a matter of when."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week offered different guidance to schools and daycare centers depending on whether they have a locally identified case of COVID-19.
[RELATED: CDC Guidance for schools regarding COVID-19 coronavirus]
For institutions that don't have a confirmed case, the CDC says schools should review and update their emergency plans, emphasize hand-washing, communicate with local health departments and review attendance policies — including dropping rewards for perfect attendance.
As of Monday, some school districts in Washington closed because of concerns over the virus. The Colville School District north of Spokane closed Monday until further notice — or until after test results come back of a suspected local infection.
A few schools in northern Idaho, on the border of Washington, also shut down Monday for cleaning, even though Idaho currently has no confirmed cases of the virus.
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