Two more students have tested positive for COVID-19, according to Supt. Alexis Meyer. These students were both from Eldredge Elementary. Meyer said she learned of the positive tests around 8:30 p.m. Monday. This marks the third and fourth positive tests since school started a month ago. The first two were a student at Cole on Oct. 5 and one at EGHS Oct. 6.

Because of the timing of the latest tests, Meyer said, the state Dept. of Health said there was no need for further investigation or contact tracing. That’s because RIDOH follows U.S. Centers of Disease Control guidelines, which state, “An infected person can spread COVID-19 starting 48 hour or two days before the person has any symptoms or tests positive.” 

Since the last day of in-person school had been Friday and the students were tested Monday, that meant there had been more than 48 hours since they had been the school building.

While positive tests are alarming, Meyer said they are a reality when dealing with a contagious virus like COVID-19. Tuesday marked the start of the second week of full in-person school for elementary students. Meyer said in general it was going very well.

“Kids should be in school. Kids are happy to be there. There’s no doubt about that,” she said. “This is how it should be.”