Coronavirus outbreak at two Douglas schools prompts plea to keep sick kids at home

The announcement of an outbreak of the coronavirus at Douglas High and Pau-Wa-Lu Middle schools was accompanied by a plea with parents not to send sick children to school on Thursday morning.

“We cannot emphasize enough the importance of parents and guardians keeping sick students at home, quarantining unvaccinated students if there is a positive case in the household and taking the time to screen your children prior to leaving for school each day,” school officials said.

As a result of the outbreak, students at both schools will be required to wear their masks in class starting Friday, whether they are vaccinated or not.

Over two weeks Aug. 8-21, 33 cases of the virus were confirmed in Douglas schools, with 61 percent having attended school while contagious.

An investigation conducted by Carson City Health and Human Services indicated that the high school and middle school were hotspots.

“Effective Aug. 27, all Douglas High School and Pau-Wa-Lu Middle Schools students, regardless of vaccination status, will be required to wear face coverings when indoors and when utilizing DCSD transportation,” the district said in a statement issued Thursday. “The only exceptions are those students who can produce documentation from a qualified Nevada-licensed medical professional that they are exempt … or when actively eating and drinking.”

The mask requirement will remain in place for 28 calendar days or two 14-day cycles.

According to the school district’s COVID tracker, there have been 105 cases since school started on Aug. 9, with 89 still active. Douglas High, which is the largest school in the district has 50 active cases as of Aug. 25 while Pau-Wa-Lu has eight active cases.

Under the emergency directive that allowed students to attend class without masks, if a schoolwide outbreak is identified by health officials in a school, “a universal face covering policy shall be implemented immediately for all students in the school building where the outbreak occurred until the local health authority determines that the outbreak is closed.”

An outbreak is defined as two or more laboratory confirmed cases among students and staff within 14 days, and which don’t share a household or are identified as close contacts during contact tracing.

“Keeping our schools open to in-person learning remains the top priority of the Douglas County School District, and as we have done over the course of this pandemic, we will implement all required mitigation measures,” school officials said. “We hope our school community shares this same goal and will accept the reality that each of us play a role in keeping Douglas schools accessible to our students.”

Carson City Health and Human Services is conducting coronavirus testing and vaccinations will be outdoors at the Douglas County Community & Senior Center if smoke conditions allow. Testing is 2-3 p.m. while the vaccination clinic is 4-5:30 p.m.