News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Putnam County School System is implementing measures to slow the spread of COVID as cases climb district wide.
The number currently sit at 226 confirmed positive cases. Director of Schools Corby King said morning screenings and limited visitations will be put in place Thursday to add layers of protection.
“I think what we’re seeing is exactly what we were told we were going to see,” King said. “That COVID at this time, whether it’s the Delta Variant or whether it’s just COVID itself or some other variant is impacting children at a higher rate than what we saw last fall.”
King said that families reporting potential exposures and waiting for COVID test results is one of the best tools the system has. King said this can slow the spread and keep schools open.
“The primary message is that if you’re sick, if your child is sick, if there’s a positive COVID case in the home, we’re still seeing a lot of in home spread so let’s start there,” King said. “If there’s someone positive in the home with COVID or if you think might have it and you’ve been tested, please stay home until you get the test results back. Keep the child home.”
King said the system is going to continue recommending masks, asking parents to talk with their kids about masks. He said this is already a divisive issue and he does not want to see that division spread among the student population.
“If there’s a student wearing a mask we ask families to just talk to their kids and not give those kids a hard time that are masking,” King said. “If they’re not wearing a mask and you think they should be… again, we have to respect each others decisions here just like we should be doing out in town.”
