Ehler: Minimum Change With Elevated COVID Risk Level

The Panhandle Public Health District announced on Oct. 19 that the level of concern has moved further into the Orange, or High Risk stage.

As of Monday, Oct. 19, there have been more than 17,000 people tested, 1,396 who were positive for the COVID-19 virus, 1,010 who recovered, 375 currently active, 20 active hospitalizations and 11 deaths related to COVID-19.

The PPHD report on Oct. 12 that the COVID-19 caution level increased to Orange, or High Risk. As of the school board meeting that night, the change in status has little impact on the day-to-day affairs of Sidney schools. Sidney School Superintendent Jay Ehler updated the school board on the COVID changes. He said that Sidney “entered Orange on the risk dial,” but there will be no new protocols. “The one change is we will be doing temperature checks,” he said. He said the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is unclear regarding the accuracy of temperature checks. He added it would alert staff to something worth contacting parents regardless if it is COVID-19 or another illness. “I would say it's pretty much learning as usual,” he said. He said a student can return after being 24 hours fever-free. However, if a student has multiple COVID-19 symptoms he or she is to stay home for 10 days or until examined by a doctor. “Most kids are not going to have COVID. They'll have a cold or flu or something,” he said. Ehler also wrote a letter to parents explaining the increase in caution. In addition to temperature checks in the morning, Ehler said “there may be some changes to extracurricular events, both here and when visiting other schools in the Panhandle.” The definition is based on the PPHD's four-level COVID-19 Risk Dial. The dial moves from green (low risk) to yellow (moderate risk) to orange (high risk) to red (severe risk). As of Oct. 12, PPHD has documented 16,401 tests resulted in 1,154 positive cases throughout the Panhandle for a 6.7 percent positivity rate. Of that number 931 have recovered, there are 17 active hospitalizations and 11 deaths related to COVID-19.