HEBER CITY, Utah-Following the press conference conducted by Utah Governor Gary Herbert Thursday afternoon, the Wasatch School District has made the following determinations.
“For the foreseeable future,” Wasatch School District will cancel all out-of-state school-related travel.
Large activities generating gatherings of more than 100 people will be canceled or limited, based on circumstances.
Wasatch High School was to host the class 5-A state debate tournament this weekend, but this has been postponed.
The Utah High School Activities Association has suspended all activities, commencing March 16, for at least two weeks.
Wasatch School District will also continue to consult with the Wasatch County Health Department, state officials and other authorities, concerning the possibility of closing schools within the district.
Currently, at the recommendation of Herbert’s task force and the Wasatch County Health Department, school will ensue under the following conditions:
-No evidence of community transmission of COVID-19 in Utah
-The transmission of COVID-19 acquired within the local community and not related to travel has not yet begun in Utah.
-Schools, businesses and other institutions may consider minimally invasive mitigation measures.
Under such conditions, school will continue.
Evidence of local community transmission of COVID-19 consists of more than four cases of the disease linked to a specific business or healthcare setting or more than four cases within a one-mile radius of each other.
This may also entail a cluster of COVID-19 cases without an explanatory epidemiologic link (i.e., travel to another state or country with community transmission or contact to a confirmed case) within a local health jurisdiction in 14 days.
-School would be dismissed for students under such conditions, but facilities would remain open and staff would be expected to continue to work.
Evidence of widespread transmission of COVID-19 would feature two or more Utah Local Health Departments meeting the follow criteria:
-A cluster of COVID-19 cases without an explanatory epidemiologic link in 14 days, or an influenza-like illness rate at least two times above the seasonal baseline while the COVID-19 epidemic is occurring.
-two or more concurrent clusters of COVID-19 indicating local community transmission of COVID-19 within a local Utah health jurisdiction.
-sustained community transmission COVID-19 in one LHD for which the rate or location of transmission means that it is likely to spread to other Utah local health jurisdictions.
-schools are closed to student or staff.
A school dismissal entails students being sent home, but facilities remaining open. Staff would still be expected to work under such scenarios.
A school closure ensures all student and staff went home.
Coordinated school closures and dismissals can allow for time to assess the disease’s spread and quell its spread in the commencement of its circulation.
Strategies for social distancing in schools include the division of classes into smaller groups of students, ensuring that students are not seated closely to one another.
The decision to close any schools will be made carefully and prudently, as school closures can possibly increase the burdens placed upon a community in a time of crisis.
If school closures are appropriate, the following items will be considered:
-care-giving difficulties faced by parents (loss of income, consequences of missed work)
-students congregating in alternate locations
-supervision of students if parents become sick or are required to work
-vulnerable student population programs, such as free school meals. If closures occur, free school meals will be discontinued temporarily.
-education and mental health considerations, if closures are prolonged.
Over the course of the next few weeks, Wasatch School District will continually update parents and staff as more information is gleaned from all relevant entities.
