[Summit] Governor's message, video & chart : Contact Tracing for schools + Walk-through of Blackstone Park plans [Covid News no. 363]

[David Kolsky]

 Obviously, future plans for Blackstone Park have little to do with the present pandemic; I’m just pinning a late postponement at the end for convenience’ sake).
¶ Wednesday 2 September marked the 75th anniversary of World War II’s end. Tuesday the 1st was the 81st anniversary of Hitler’s invasion of Poland, and Thursday the 3rd (today) is the 81st anniversary of Britain’s and France’s declaration of war on Germany. Never again.
Dave

   ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Gina Raimondo <communications at governor.ri.gov>To:Sent: Wednesday, September 2, 2020, 09:28:56 PM EDTSubject: Contact tracing for schools
  
| Your RI COVID-19 News Update |
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| Hi David,
Yesterday, I talked about our comprehensive approach to testing. Today, I want to talk about what happens next: contact tracing. I want to make sure parents, students and teachers understand how this process will work. When we talk about contact tracing, we’re actually talking about two things: case investigation and contact tracing.      
   - Case investigation is when the Department of Health works with someone who has tested positive to help them remember everyone they’ve been in close contact with while they may have been infectious. 
   - Contact tracing begins when we start reaching out to those individuals and getting them safely into quarantine. 
 Preventing spread in schools, while limiting any disruption in learning, will require an aggressive contact tracing program. That's why we’re establishing a dedicated, 50-person K-12 contact tracing team for students and staff at both public and private schools.  |

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| If you’re a student or work in a school and you test positive for COVID, you’re going to get a call from a Department of Health K-12 case investigator. They’ll ask you a series of questions about where you’ve been and who you’ve been with in the last two weeks. In addition to that phone call, our case investigators will connect directly with the school to determine your close contacts. Every school has a designated staff member to assist with case investigations.  Close contacts will need to quarantine for 14 days, and during that time they’ll do distance learning. They’ll be monitored for symptoms and get tested, but even if they don’t develop symptoms and even if they have a negative test result, they will still need to quarantine for a full two weeks.  One question I’ve been hearing from parents is, “If my child’s classmate tests positive, does my child need to quarantine?” And from teachers, “If a student tests positive, do I need to quarantine?” The answer is no, unless you meet the definition of a close contact—if you were closer than 6 feet for more than 15 minutes at a time. That won’t be everyone in your stable pod, just those right around you. Classmates and teachers will only need to quarantine if they were a close contact. Every school has set up processes for communicating with students and families when there is a positive case in a school. Our focus is quickly identifying those cases through testing and containing them through quarantine, case investigation, and contact tracing. We’ve done it all summer in childcare, congregate care settings, churches and more. We know how to do this, and we’ve set up a robust system focused on K-12 to get it done. |

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| Click the graph to see check the Department of Health's COVID-19 data dashboard. |

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| Rapid, effective contact tracing will allow us to minimize disruption and keep kids and teachers safely in school. But I want to be clear: we’re not going to let people go to school if it’s not safe. We’re going to keep working non-stop to make sure that any family that wants to send their children to learn in-person is able to safely. 
We're all in this together,
-Gina RaimondoGovernor |

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|  Governor's Office | 82 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02903  |
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| Upcoming Blackstone Parks Conservancy Events
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Blackstone Parks Conservancy
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Dear Members and Friends:
Due to the otherwise welcome rain, the meeting to discuss the revitalization of Blackstone Park has been rescheduled for tomorrow, Thursday September 3rd, 6:00-7:00 pm, at Blackstone Field, across from the Narragansett Boat Club (2 River Drive, Providence, RI 02906).

The presentation is hosted with the Providence Parks Department. To see a concept drawing of proposed improvements for Blackstone Park click here. Please join us if you're interested in taking part in the conversation.


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BlackstonePark_2020_rev.pdf


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If you are unable to attend the meeting but would like to comment on the concept drawing, we are happy to pass along your input. Please email your comment to us,

Thank you for making the park a priority.

Blackstone Parks Conservancy



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| Copyright © 2017 Blackstone Parks Conservancy, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
PO Box 603141 Providence, Rhode Island 02906
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