ALBANY, Ore. — At least 19 students in Greater Albany Public Schools attended a gathering without masks, spurring new COVID-19 cases and setting back progress made toward holding in-person classes, officials said.
At least three positive cases have been traced to a large gathering in a local home with students from West Albany High School, South Albany High School and Lebanon High School, the Albany Democrat-Herald reported.
“In addition to the large gathering, a number of the same individuals have been together since then,” Schools Superintendent Melissa Goff said. “So we have an additional six students who should be quarantining right now.”
The families of the students have been contacted by local health authorities but according to Goff, some families may not be cooperating with efforts to trace the potential outbreak.
Prior to the latest positive cases, the school district was holding limited in-person instruction for students who receive special services while monitoring the increasing case load around the county. A total of 142 students at 14 district sites were receiving in-person instruction.
Those services have been paused and all teachers and staff who are able to work from home, have been asked to do so by the district.
On Monday, the district announced that it now has seen contacts or cases at 13 of its 21 sites and there are six sites with active cases or exposure concerns.
