North Hills reports covid-19 case at West View Elementary

A student at West View Elementary School has tested positive for covid-19, according to North Hills School District officials.

The student, who has not been in the building since Oct. 27, began experiencing symptoms on Monday and tested positive for the virus yesterday.

The Allegheny County Health Department is not recommending that the district change the hybrid instructional model being used in the elementary schools.

This is the first covid case at West View and is believed to be the only active one at the school.

To date, 16 people in the district — nine students and seven staff members — have tested positive for the virus.

Seven of the 10 cases reported at the high school are active. There previously were two cases at the middle school, two at Highcliff Elementary and one at Ross Elementary.

On Monday, the district switched North Hills High School back to online-only instruction for the remainder of the week after another student tested positive for covid-19.

The student was last in the building on Oct. 27, according to district officials.

Students are scheduled to return to a mix of online and in-person instruction on Monday.

The decision to temporarily return to virtual learning at the high school was recommended by the Allegheny County Health Department, district officials said.

Superintendent Pat Mannarino said closing the high school for the week is the best way to ensure in-person instruction can continue.

“Our goal is to operate with in-person instruction and to maintain an in-person model while safely doing so for the rest of the year,” he said in a video presentation. “Closing the high school is the best course of action to maintain this goal.”

Mannarino said the cases in the district are not connected and “there is not an outbreak (of covid) at our high school.”

“Staff and students are not getting sick in our schools,” he said. “Teachers and students who have had the virus in our building have not passed it onto others because our (health and safety) plan is working.”

The most recent case at the high school was the fourth in two weeks.

On Sunday, a teacher who already was in quarantine has tested positive for covid-19. The teacher was last in the building on Oct. 29 and began developing symptoms on Oct. 31. A rapid test administered on Nov. 1 confirmed the presence of the virus.

Last week, two people — a high school student and teacher who also serves as a football coach — tested positive for covid-19.

Before the most recent case at the high school, the district was able to continue using the hybrid model because the timeline for the active cases did not put others at risk because close contact did not occur.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines close contact as being within 6 feet of someone who has covid-19 for 15 minutes or longer.

The Allegheny County Health Department recommends a quarantine period of 14 days, but notes that most infections occur within the first few days after exposure.

The health department is handling contract tracing for the cases and issues notices to people who need to self-quarantine because of potential exposure to the virus.