LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Upper Lake Unified School District’s superintendent said Sunday that a staffer has tested positive for COVID-19, the first instance of a positive case among its employees during school in the academic year so far.
Dr. Giovanni Annous told Lake County News that the situation shouldn’t warrant any anxiety from the community, as the Upper Lake Elementary School staffer who tested positive for the virus doesn’t work directly with students.
Annous and Upper Lake Elementary School principal Stephanie Wayment released a statement to staff and the community on Sunday explaining that at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday the staffer reported to Wayment that they were not feeling well.
The staff member was immediately sent home and directed to schedule a COVID-19 test. On Sunday, the test results were received confirming the employee has having COVID-19, the statement explained.
“Thanks to diligent safety protocols, we feel confident in the safety of students and staff,” Annous and Wayment said in the statement.
Over the next few days, district officials said they will be working with the Lake County Department of Public Health to conduct contact tracing and help identify and contact possible close contacts as quickly as possible. People identified as close contacts will be notified through Public Health.
The district said a close contact in terms of contact tracing means a person who has been within 6 feet of the infected person for 15 minutes or more within a period of 24 hours without wearing a mask. A person who has been identified as a close contact should be quarantined for 14 days after the last exposure.
Annous and Wayment told parents it’s important to stay home if they or their children feel ill, to contact their doctor as soon as possible and continue to communicate with their school.
Annous told Lake County News on Sunday evening that this is the first instance of a district staff member testing positive for COVID-19 during instructional time since returning to school on Aug. 12.
He said one staffer also had tested positive in June and over the Christmas break one or two district employees may also have tested positive but the district wasn’t formally notified of it.
The Upper Lake Unified School District and the Lucerne Elementary School District both started school in August in a “hybrid” model that allowed for having students back on campuses.
After Christmas break, Annous said the district agreed to a request from Public Health to delay in-person instruction for several weeks because of the county’s high case rate, so they began with distance learning and had students back on campus on Jan. 25.
Annous said 72 percent of the district’s elementary students are now on campus five days a week and 55 percent of students in the middle and high school grades attend classes in person.
He credited the district’s 99 staff members with their diligence in maintaining safety protocols each day for the fact the district has not had more cases.
In addition to hospital-style air purifiers that the district uses – and that were brought in before COVID-19 in order to deal with wildland fire smoke – Annous said every staffer gets a new K95 mask every day.
The schools also have been using partitions, foggers and hand sanitizer, among other measures.
“We’re always managing risk,” Annous said.
Two-thirds of the district’s staff also has been vaccinated against COVID-19. Annous said he was the last district staffer to receive the second dose on Friday.
Annous said the safety of students, teachers, staff and the community is paramount.
At the same time, he said they want to make sure they provide an atmosphere offering academic, social and emotional support for students.
“Our kids deserve the best,” he said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Upper Lake Unified School District officials report staff member tests positive for COVID-19
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On