BRUNSWICK — The Maine Center for Disease Control on Tuesday classified Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School under outbreak status due to the volume of COVID-19 cases, according to a statement from the superintendent.
“This is a determination that simply means that there has been a certain number of COVID-19 cases within a period of time within a school,” Superintendent Phillip Potenziano wrote. “It does not mean that there has been any transmission within schools; more likely, transmission has occurred within the community.”
“Based upon a recommendation from our consulting physician, and the timing of cases at Harriet Beecher Stowe we’ve determined it is safe to maintain our current hybrid programming model,” Potenziano wrote.
The hybrid program consists of two days a week in-person and three days a week remote.
Potenziano said that as of Tuesday, the school was only aware of two active cases in the HBS community, and both those individuals are in isolation.
“Additionally, based on recommendations from the CDC, we are cleaning the school/classrooms today,” Potenziano said.
“We had our custodians clean the entire building and wiped and sanitized high touch surface areas (door knobs, desks, etc.),” Potenziano added in an email on Thursday. “They then sanitized the entire building using electrostatic spray guns.”
The Maine CDC continues to recommend people wash their hands, use hand sanitizer, wear masks, maintain social distance and avoid touching their face to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
As of Feb. 4, the Maine CDC has reported 11,493 cases in Cumberland County and 166 deaths.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
