NMPED News:

SANTA FE – The Public Education Department announced this afternoon three new positive cases of COVID-19 in the last 24-hours. 

Rapid response has been initiated, and all pertinent information has been verified with the schools and school districts. 

The following new cases have been reported:

• Two cases at two public schools in Dona Ana County. The infected individuals are staff members.  The infected individuals were last in the school buildings Sept. 18. All staff members and the parents and guardians of all students in the affected school have been notified of the positive cases.
• One case at a public school in Santa Fe County. The infected individual is a staff member. The infected individual was last on school property Sept. 15. All staff members and the parents and guardians of all students in the affected school have been notified of the positive case.

All “close contacts” will be informed of the positive case and instructed to quarantine for 14 days. Affected classrooms and facilities will be cleaned and disinfected.

Staff must be tested if symptomatic or a “close contact”; however, staff members shall not be require to present a negative test result in order to return to work. 

Symptomatic staff may return to work after 10 days plus 24 hours after the fever is gone and COVID-19 symptoms have improved. Asymptomatic staff who have been “close contacts” may return to work after a 14-day quarantine.

The PED has collected data since Aug. 17, 2020; moving forward, cumulative totals will include those data. The total number of cases in school populations is currently at 135.

For additional information about COVID-19 safety in schools, visit: https://bit.ly/SafeSchoolsNM.