Bethlehem Health Bureau leading contact tracing in BASD schools

Bethlehem Health Bureau leading contact tracing in BASD schools

By Genesis Ortega

September 27, 2020

The Bethlehem Health Bureau is leading contact tracing efforts in the school district. So far, the Bethlehem Area School District has reported six cases.

The city’s Health Director Kristen Wenrich says they’re hearing directly from school officials whenever a coronavirus case is confirmed.

“The school has information as far as what classrooms the students were in, or the staff, transportation, if it was a student that was involved in a sporting activity. So we really work hand in hand going through each case and looking at who would be determined as a close contact,” said Wenrich.

For now, Wenrich says the district plans to continue with the hybrid teaching model despite the confirmed cases. 

“We knew going into the school year that we were going to see cases in schools, we’re going to see cases in colleges and universities- it’s just trying to control those cases and minimize them as much as possible.”

The Bethlehem Area School District is one of very few in the Lehigh Valley publicly reporting its coronavirus cases – by way of a COVID-19 dashboard which is updated daily.

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