Regardless of almost a thousand college students and workers at present in quarantine, the Toms River interim colleges superintendent insists “there isn’t a COVID-19 outbreak in our district.”
Stephen Genco sent a letter to parents Thursday complaining of “misguided and deceptive reporting” on the difficulty. “There aren’t any plans to transition to digital studying at any faculty or classroom, ” Genco wrote.
Some have tied the big numbers of people in quarantine to a lax masks coverage to begin the yr, however Genco has once more disputed that declare. He insists college students have been solely allowed to go maskless for the primary few days of the brand new faculty yr resulting from extreme warmth, after which solely in areas of colleges buildings that didn’t have air-con.
The quarantine numbers did draw the eye of Governor Phil Murphy and New Jersey Well being Commissioner Judy Persichilli at this weeks COVID briefing. Each mentioned the state was trying into the difficulty.
Genco told the Asbury Park Press he blamed the quarantines on children having fun with regular summer season actions with no restrictions. Noting Toms River is a “group on the seaside,” Genco advised the Press, “These children got here in from the summer season with no masks, no restrictions….we have been coping with a illness that was already there.”
The district’s web site lists 761 college students nonetheless in quarantine resulting from attainable COVID publicity. Whereas that quantity is trending down, the variety of college students who’ve examined optimistic for COVID goes up, from 208 to 235 as of Thursday.
I felt it vital to succeed in out and guarantee our college group that, opposite to what you could have heard, there isn’t a Covid-19 “outbreak” in our district. – Stephen Genco, interim Superintendent, Toms River Regional College District
Regardless of Genco’s insistence there isn’t a “outbreak,” these numbers actually qualify under state and CDC guidelines. An “outbreak” is outlined as instances the place two or extra unrelated college students or faculty workers have been contaminated within the classroom or in a college setting.
Genco expressed “frustration” over having to answer media stories, and mentioned he was “happy with the job we’re doing” to safeguard the security of scholars and workers within the district.
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