By CHRISTINE HAINES
Notice went out Tuesday to everyone in the Belle Vernon Area School District that someone with a known case of COVID-19 attended last Wednesday’s graduation ceremony.
“We notified the entire district for simplicity’s sake. You don’t know who was there and who wasn’t,” said Superintendent Dr. Michele Dowell. “We did temperature screenings. I’m assuming this person didn’t have a temperature.”
Dowel said she had heard something about the possibility of someone at the ceremony having COVID-19, which she confirmed by calling the family.
“Then I called the (state) health department. They told us exactly who we needed to notify and how to handle everything,” Dowell said. “A person can be asymptomatic.”
Along with the letter from Dowell on the district’s website is a letter from state Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine.
“The Secretary of Health is directing persons who attended an event or gathering at James Weir Stadium, to follow the disease control measures consisting of the self-monitoring activities included in this Order. Anyone who was present at Graduation on the following date: June 24, 2020 may have been exposed to COVID-19,” Levine’s letter states.
It goes on to direct those who attended the ceremony to take their temperature and watch for symptoms for a 14-day period from the date of the exposure. In addition to a fever of 100.4 or higher, symptoms can include cough, shortness of breath, chills, repeated shaking, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, fatigue, congestion or runny nose, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting, and new loss of taste or smell.
The Belle Vernon Area School District originally planned to hold a virtual graduation, but students petitioned for an in-person ceremony that would allow the entire graduating class to be together. There were 176 students slated to graduate this year.
The district had proposed dividing the class into four groups, each with its own ceremony, in order to comply with the state and Centers for Disease Control directive to limit gatherings to 250 people or fewer to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
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