VIRUS CLOSES EUNICE HIGH

EUNICE — Eunice High School is closed for cleaning after five staff members tested positive for COVID-19.
Principal Mitchell Fontenot, in a letter to parents, stated the campus closed at the end of the day Monday “out of an abundance of caution to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all members of the community and the school.”
Instruction will be delivered remotely beginning Tuesday and in-person learning is scheduled to resume on Nov. 4, he stated.
The in-person restart date is “contingent on what the data tells us about the number of COVID-19 cases in the Eunice area,” he stated.
Arrangements are being made by the Child Nutrition Department to provide grab and go meals for EHS students at the Central Middle School campus, he stated.
“We will be closely monitoring this situation and following all directions provided by the Louisiana Department of Health. Please note that while we have an obligation to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of all members of our community, we also have an obligation to protect the privacy of individuals affected by this virus,” he stated.
Fontenot said only close contacts are required to be quarantined.
“The Center for Disease Control Prevention (CDC) defines a close contact as an individual who was within six feet of a positive case of COVID-19 for a duration of longer than 15 consecutive minutes, he stated.
“Unless an individual has been personally contacted by the Department of Health or the school nurse we can reasonably assure you that you have not been identified as a close contact of a positive case. The only individuals who need to quarantine are those who have been personally contacted by the Department of Health or the school nurse,” he stated.
Fontenot stated, “If you are symptomatic please stay home and contact your medical provider immediately. If your child receives a positive COVID-19 result please contact Nurse Callie Schouest at 337-457-5895 or Nurse Sylvia Brown at 337-948-3646. Your cooperation with sharing information with our nurses and reporting any positive cases of COVID-19 within your family or close contacts is very important.”
Fontenot added, “It is important to note that there is no evidence that schools in the Eunice area have had an increase in positive cases, nor is there any indication that higher transmission rates in these neighborhoods are due to school buildings being open. The step to close school buildings is one of many steps being taken to help reduce transmission in the Eunice area.”
The Louisiana National Guard and Office of Public Health will be providing COVID-19 testing from 8 a.m. ot 3 p.m. Friday at the Eunice High School parking lot.
Staff members at Eunice Career and Technical Education Center will report to work to deliver lessons virtually, he stated.
All other schools in the Eunice area will remain open at this time, he stated.