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LOCAL COVID-19 UPDATE - 3 schools now on eLearning, trouble with state dashboards
By IVY JACOBS
Times Reporter
The spike in positive COVID-19 cases has caused three schools to close and students were moved to eLearning, while two local nursing homes/healthcare facilities struggle with the virus.
Clay City Jr./Sr. High School and North Clay Middle School announced the two-week closure Friday (expecting to return to classrooms Monday, Nov. 23), while Meridian Elementary has completed the first week of their two-week process.
Superintendent Jeff Fritz said the goal is and will be “keeping our schools open in a safe manner for students and staff members.”
Fritz said COVID-19 continues to be a fluid situation, and the patience and cooperation of families during this situation is much appreciated.
“If parents have questions about moving to eLearning, they can contact their child’s school Monday morning,” Fritz said, adding staff members who are not in quarantine will be on hand during the school day.
To maintain transparency about COVID-19 in the schools, Fritz said parents — and the community — can view the CCSC RoadMap Information online at https://in02200674.schoolwires.net/.
DASHBOARD TROUBLE
The Brazil Times relies upon the Indiana State Department of Health and the Clay County Health Department to provide accurate COVID-19 data. However, the ISDH website has been a problematic source in two areas.
The Clay County Health Department recently explained the Dashboard Data for Long Term Care Facilities (https://www.coronavirus.in.gov/) is on a separate filing system, which has delayed providing up-to-date information to the public.
Cloverleaf Healthcare is updating the public on social media about their COVID-19 struggle. Officials' most recent post on their Facebook page: “For November 8th, we are happy to report that we have had ZERO Residents test positive for COVID in the last 24 hours! We have had 11 Residents recover from COVID total. We have had 0 Employees test positive for COVID in the last 24 hours bringing our total to 33 Employees and 58 Residents that have been affected by COVID total. We currently have 39 active Resident cases of COVID and 15 active Employees cases of COVID. We have lost 0 Residents to COVID in the last 24 hours. We have had 10 Residents total pass away from COVID. #Cloverleafstrong”
Data at the ISDH LTC Dashboard as of Monday, November 9, 2020, includes information for Exceptional Living Center of Brazil: 17 cases were reported among residents, and 21 reported among staff members (remaining unchanged for whatever reason for at least two weeks).
No positive case data has been reported at this time for Towne Park Assisted Living or Villas of Holly Brook Indiana.
Apparently, the same problem is happening with the ISDH COVID-19 School Dashboard, which has not shown any marked change at local schools for several weeks. Due to that reason, the ISDH School DASHBOARD information will not be posted until it does reflect local data.
The Brazil Times will use the information provided by Clay Community School Corporation and the local health department to keep the public updated.
COVID-19 QUESTIONS
General questions from the public or a healthcare provider inquiries about COVID-19 may be directed to the INDIANA State Department of Health COVID-19 Call Center at the toll-free number: 877-826-0011 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily for the general public, Monday through Friday for healthcare providers).