By: Kelsey Brown | News Editor | kbrown.express@gmail.com
By: Rose Vega | Editor-in-chief |rvega.express@gmail.com
Los Rios Community College District officials have determined that, despite concerns about the recent coronavirus exposure in the district, all Los Rios campuses will remain open.
In an updated health alert sent out Sunday, March 8, the district said that there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the district.
Two City College students were self-quarantined after being exposed to coronavirus while working in the medical field, according to a health alert sent out Feb. 27.
While the risk of coronavirus is still low, City College is taking precautions, said Kaitlyn Collignon, City College communication and public information officer.
“We’re continuing to have conversations with county health officials, with state health officials, and we’re taking recommendations from them as to how to proceed at this time,” explained Collignon in a phone interview earlier in the week. “They continue to tell us the risk to our campus is low, so we’re following their guidance. We’ll continue to keep in touch with them as things develop in the region as a whole and follow their expert advice.”
According to the health alert, additional sanitation is being implemented to minimize risk.
“They’re [custodial staff] making sure they are wiping down all high touch points—counters, doorknobs, things that people are going to be touching a lot—because we know that’s one of the things they talk about,” said Collignon.
The Elk Grove School District is the first district in the state to suspend instruction. District officials announced March 7 that all schools in the district will be closed this week after a family of a child attending one school was quarantined, according to The Sacramento Bee.
While all Los Rios campuses remain open, currently all non-essential public events should be temporarily canceled to help reduce exposure to students, the health alert stated.
“The experts on this really are the health officials who have expertise in this area, which would be our county health department, Sacramento County health department, and then the state department of public health,” said Collignon. “They would make the recommendation for us to close, if we hit such a point.”