Good afternoon!
I wanted to update our parents and community on what the Richland School District has been doing in regards to the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Earlier this week, I met with our nurses, Mr. Bailey, and Mr. Ribarich (Director of Facilities) to discuss and plan for this issue. As of this week, we are implementing the following or have shared the following:
- We will focus on educational awareness for our staff and students through classroom lessons, our Ram TV, Lamb TV, social media, and common and simple signage in the buildings that will encourage:
- The washing of hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. The use of an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.
- Instructing everyone to cover any coughs or sneezes with their elbow, not their hands.
- Cleaning surfaces frequently, such as countertops, doorknobs, water fountains, light switches, cell phones, and other frequently touched areas
- Encouraging those that are sick to stay home until they are feeling better.
- Requesting that individuals not share personal devices.
- Each classroom or instructional area has been provided with disinfectant wipes. Additional disinfectant wipes will be available in the nurses' offices. Teachers are reminded to wipe surfaces as needed including door handles and shared devices between classes. Due to a predicted shortage of disinfectant wipes, we will provide each staff member with a pre-mixed labeled spray bottle with "quat" disinfectants and disposable napkins once the disinfectant wipes are exhausted. Teachers need to use professionalism and compassion should a student sneeze or be sick in the classroom so as not to embarrass the student by immediately wiping the desk or surface they are using. Quats (quaternary ammonium compounds) are disinfectant chemicals commonly found in disinfectant wipes, sprays and other household cleaners that are designed to kill germs. Bleach is not used as a disinfectant. Contrary to advertisements, bleach is not as effective as quaternary disinfectants and bleach can cause damage to surfaces and cause chemical reactions.
- Tissues will be distributed to all classrooms and additional tissues will be ordered. Additional tissues will be available in the nurses' offices.
- Hand sanitizer dispensers are available in most elementary classrooms. Additional units and sanitizer inserts have been ordered for all classrooms across the district.
- The district maintenance and cleaning personnel have been instructed to pay special attention when cleaning surface areas, including doorknobs, keyboards, water fountains, restrooms and so forth. Our cafeteria staff has been provided with alerts as well. The cleaning products that are used by the district are "quat" based disinfectants that are pre-mixed through a metered dilution system that eliminates the need for "batch" mixing which leads to human error in either providing too much disinfectant or not enough. This dilution system meets the Department of Health standards.
- Approximately one year ago, the district instituted a "Cross-Contamination Color Coding System" for all maintenance and cleaning personnel to follow. This Color-coding system has become popular in a number of industries in which cross-contamination is a threat to public health, from janitorial to healthcare to foodservice. No matter the industry or the environment, the notion is the same: that by coordinating colors of tools, such as mops, buckets or cloths, with specific areas of a building or room, the risk of crossover of bacteria, viruses, and other harmful pathogens is reduced.
- Quat cleaners will be provided to our bus contractor.
- Three disinfectant "fogging machines" have been purchased to use in any classroom or bus to disinfect the area after school (without students and staff present) should we notice any uptick in health issues.
Arnie Nadonley
Superintendent
Richland School District
Wolf Administration Confirms Two Presumptive Positive Cases of COVID-19
March 06, 2020
Governor Tom Wolf today confirmed the first two presumptive positive cases of r) in Pennsylvania and reminded residents that the commonwealth is prepared to respond to community spread of this virus.
“We anticipated this very scenario and have been preparing for Pennsylvanians to become impacted by this virus,” Governor Wolf said. “This is not the first rapidly-spreading virus we have faced in our commonwealth and it will not be the last. We are prepared to mitigate the spread of this virus.”
The one individual is an adult from Wayne County and is currently in their home in isolation. The individual recently traveled to a country where COVID-19 is present.
The other individual is from an adult from Delaware County and is currently in their home in isolation. The individual recently traveled to an area of the United States where COVID-19 is present.
To date, there are nearly 100,000 cases worldwide, including more than 3,300 deaths. There are 233 cases and 12 deaths to date in the United States. The CDC expects cases to continue to be confirmed in the upcoming days and weeks but wants everyone to take action to help prevent the spread of the virus. CDC also said due to the rapidly changing nature of the spread of COVID-19 around the world, it is important for families to be prepared.
“Further spread of this virus throughout the nation will likely occur,” Dr. Levine said. “We encourage people to prepare for potential life disruptions. The same family emergency plans and kits that we use to prepare for flu or norovirus, and even snowstorms and floods, are important now. Pennsylvanians should continue to help stop the spread of viruses by washing your hands, covering coughs and sneezes, cleaning surfaces and staying home if you are sick.”
“The confirmation of a case of coronavirus is not a surprise to us, and we’ve been working with the Department of Health since January to ensure that we’d be ready,” said PEMA Director Randy Padfield. “Earlier this week, we partially activated the Commonwealth Response Coordination Center here at PEMA in order to support their planning efforts.”
Individuals who intend on traveling outside of the United States are urged to check the CDC’s and the federal Department of State’s travel guidance. Currently, there are outbreaks of COVID-19 occurring within numerous countries across the world. The number of countries seeing new cases has increased significantly over the last week.
“As this situation evolves, we will continually update Pennsylvanians through our website, health.pa.gov, our Facebook page and our Twitter account,” Dr. Levine said. “It’s important to remember that the most accurate and timely information regarding this outbreak is available through the Department of Health.”
Symptoms of the COVID-19 can include fever, cough and shortness of breath. The symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure. Reported illnesses have ranged from people with little to no symptoms to people being severely ill and dying. Individuals most at risk for severe symptoms include the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions.
Anyone who does not feel well should:
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.
- Cover any coughs or sneezes with their elbow, not their hands.
- Clean surfaces frequently, such as countertops, light switches, cell phones, and other frequently touched areas.
- Contain- if someone is sick, they should stay home until they are feeling better.
To date the Wolf Administration has:
- Activated of the Department of Health’s Emergency Operations Center to allow for enhanced response coordination;
- Began testing for COVID-19 at the state laboratory;
- Maintained communication and outreach with federal, state and local partners;
- Provided symptom monitoring for residents returning from areas impacted by coronavirus;
- Provided health care providers, businesses and education providers with information;
- Reviewed and adapted current pandemic flu plans to prepare for the spread of COVID-19;
- Increased testing capacity to test 20-25 individuals a day;
- Purchased equipment to increase testing capacity to 125-150 individuals within a day.
For more information on coronavirus visit the Department of Health website at www.health.pa.gov or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.