BOX ELDER COUNTY – By Cari Doutre – September 21, 2020
UPDATED: 6 p.m. - Sept. 21, 2020
Just three weeks after schools in Box Elder School District started the 2020-21 school year, positive cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed at Bear River High School, Bear River Middle School and Alice C. Harris Intermediate School.
On Saturday, September 19, parents with students at Bear River High were sent an email confirming a positive case of the virus.
“All contact tracing has been done and anyone who is required to quarantine has been notified. School will resume on Monday. Please wear your masks and to social distance as much as possible,” the email from school’s administrators stated.
Two days later, on Sept. 21, Bear River Middle School emailed parents stating that they too have had a positive case of COVID-19.
“This person has been quarantined for the past 10 days due to a family member who previously tested positive. They have not attended school for the past 10 days,” the emailed stated. “Please remember to wear your masks and to social distance as much as possible. Together we can beat this!”
School resumed as normal at Bear River Middle School on Monday. Alice C. Harris Intermediate notified parents on Sept. 21.
Schools did not specify if those individuals are students, teachers or staff members. Privacy laws protect the names of those individuals and will not be released to the public.
A spike in positive COVID-19 cases in Utah has reached an all time high in recent days.
On Friday, Sept. 17, an all-time high of 1,117 confirmed cases was recorded in Utah by the Utah Department of Health. On Saturday, Sept. 19, more than 1,000 new cases were confirmed.
In Box Elder County, the Bear River Health Department reports daily case counts. As of Monday, Sept. 21, Box Elder County has 528 confirmed cases (since March 2020).
Utah Governor Gary Herbert renewed Utah’s State of Emergency status. Utah has been under a continuous state of emergency since March 2020. Several executive orders have been made by Herbert and local and state health departments.
