Harwood Union Middle/High School reports 10 COVID-19 cases this week
Oct. 22, 2022 | By Lisa Scagliotti 
The current COVID-19 Community Levels CDC map for Vermont shows Bennington County at the “high” level; six counties at the “medium” level: Grand Isle, Franklin, Chittenden, Addison, Rutland and Essex; the remainder including Washington County are marked as “low.” Source: Centers For Disease Control and Prevention website
A myriad of illnesses are circulating in local schools of late and 10 cases of COVID-19 at Harwood Union Middle/High School prompted a report to the Vermont Department of Health this week and a notice to families.
“We have seen both COVID and non-COVID illnesses,” said Harwood Co-Principal Laurie Greenberg in an email to Waterbury Roundabout on Friday. “We are seeing higher numbers of other non-COVID illness than COVID, but we did have 10 reported COVID cases this week. This number triggers a report to the Vermont Department of Health.”
Harwood Unified Union School District Superintendent Mike Leichliter said he checked in with school nurses on Wednesday this week. “The COVID cases have slowed down significantly across our schools and other illnesses have eclipsed COVID. For example, we are seeing several upper respiratory illnesses with lingering coughs since the start of school,” he said. “And now [we’re] noticing hand, foot and mouth disease with some of our younger children as well as a handful of stomach bugs.”
Leichliter said school nurses monitor illnesses that students and staff report, and administrators respond accordingly. In the case of Harwood this week, a communication was sent on Thursday to parents and guardians labeled “Respiratory Disease Letter” notifying families of “several members in our school community with symptoms of a respiratory disease.”
It noted that respiratory illnesses spread through the air, and can be transmitted before someone shows symptoms. The memo elaborates: “Symptoms of respiratory diseases can include fever, headache, chills, body/muscle aches, cough, runny nose, shortness of breath, and sore throat. A person may also experience nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.”
The communication advises parents to keep ill students home and it provides links to information for COVID-19 testing on the Vermont Department of Health webpage.
Students may return to school after symptoms have cleared and they have been fever-free for 24 hours without medication, it notes.
The memo to parents was the first such communication to be sent to families in any of the district schools so far this year, Leichliter said.
Since March, the state of Vermont’s guidance to schools from the Health Department and Agency of Education ended recommendations regarding wearing masks indoors and other precautions that were in place earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020. The onset of vaccinations and home testing led to less available data while drops in hospitalizations and deaths also signaled a slowing of the coronavirus.
Current guidance does not require any testing or reporting of COVID-19 although school nursing staff try to track illness trends.
The state early this year ended daily reporting of new COVID-19 data. The Health Department generates weekly COVID-19 reports and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also maintains its online data, updated weekly.
On Wednesday, VTDigger published a summary of the most recent Vermont data that show 8 deaths attributed to COVID-19 so far this month for a pandemic total of 734 since the start of the pandemic.
State data also show an uptick in hospitalizations -- the number reached 73 in the past week or 11.7 per 100,000 people, the highest since mid-May, according to VtDigger’s analysis. A rate over 10 per 100,000 people merits the “medium” level from the CDC.
The CDC tracks COVID in communities by county nationwide. The current Covid Community Levels CDC map for Vermont shows Bennington County at the “high” level; six counties are at the “medium” level: Grand Isle, Franklin, Chittenden, Addison, Rutland and Essex; the remainder including Washington County are marked as “low.”
The Harwood school communication shared health recommendations and a list of online resources related to the illnesses circulating in the middle-high school community.
It advises being up-to-date on vaccinations such as flu and COVID-19. The Waterbury Ambulance Service schedule for flu and COVID-19 vaccination clinics is posted in the Community section on WaterburyRoundabout.org.
School officials also included reminders about handwashing, staying home when sick, and testing for COVID-19 if experiencing symptoms. Schools are no longer distributing COVID-19 tests. They are available at pharmacies with most health insurance plans covering the cost.
In addition, the memo reminds people about using masks: “Consider masking in indoor spaces, especially if someone you live/spend time with is immunocompromised or is more likely to get very sick with COVID-19.”
Other shared links for information on COVID-19, flu, RSV and whooping cough:
Vermont Department of Health guidance for if you test positive
Vermont Department of Health information on Pertussis (Whooping cough)
Find COVID-19 information online at the Vermont Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control.