On Sunday, Brighton area schools and Howell Public Schools both learned that a student tested positive for COVID-19.
Some parents may be asking why then is one school impacted closed and the other open?
Howell High School shut down for in-person learning Monday after the Livingston County Health Department Sunday said one student tested positive for COVID-19 and two other students, siblings of that original student, are probably sick with COVID-19.
In the meantime, Maltby Intermediate School in Brighton, which also learned about a student diagnosed with COVID-19 on Sunday, was open on Monday.
The Livingston County Health Department tells 7 Action News that both districts are following its advice.
The Health Department advised Maltby it could open because the department reached out to those in close contact with the sick student on Sunday.
Brighton Area Schools sent a letter to parents at the school Sunday saying, “All individuals who may have been exposed to or had close contact with the individual have been, or will be, contacted by the end of the day (Sunday).”
The Health Department needed more time to complete contact tracing for Howell.
The district closed the high school for in-person learning, saying in a statement, “This will allow time for the Livingston County Health Department to ensure that all close contacts of the students are contacted before students return to school.”
The health department says it considers people who have been within 6 feet of someone diagnosed for fifteen minutes to have been in close contact. Those are the people who are being reached out to during contact tracing.
