South Pasadena Unified School District

Coronavirus Update

February 4, 2020

Dear Parents,

The South Pasadena Unified School District is closely monitoring the recommendations from the Los Angeles County Office of Education and the Los Angeles County Public Health Department regarding the novel coronavirus. Public Health has said that the threat to the general public in Los Angeles County for contracting the disease remains low. Although there are only 11 cases of the disease in the United States, the number of cases in China is significantly escalating.

There is now some evidence that the disease can be transmitted from an asymptomatic person to a healthy person. The US Department of Health and Human Services has declared a public health emergency. This action on their part allows local, state and federal officials to better work together to coordinate their response.

Last Friday, January 31, the White House issued a new set of directives that:

• Restricts all foreign nationals who have traveled or been in China in the last 14 days from entering the United States. This order can be renewed by the President every 14 days.

• Requires all US citizens and their close family members returning from China to enter through one of eleven airports in the US (including LAX), where they will be screened by US Customs and Border Protection agents. If travelers are showing signs of respiratory illness, they will be sent for additional testing to a health care facility. Those that were in the Hubei Province at any time in the past 14 days will be quarantined at a secure location and monitored for illness for 14 days from their last exposure. Returning travelers from other places in China who have been in close contact with a confirmed case of novel coronavirus may also be subject to a quarantine for 14 days from last exposure. Returning travelers from all other parts of China who have not been in close contact with a confirmed case of novel coronavirus will be allowed to travel to their final destination where they will be monitored by their local public health department and asked to remain in their homes and avoid public places for 14 days from last exposure.

We are advising parents to keep your child at home if he/she has a fever above 100.0 degrees F. Please do not send your child to school because you gave him/her fever reducing medication. Once your child has been fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications (Tylenol/acetaminophen, Advil/ibuprofen) and without lingering symptoms, your child may return to class. If children are sick during the school day, they will be sent home. If you or your family has recently traveled to China, we request you consult your regular family health care provider for guidance. Thank you for helping us keep our school community healthy and safe.

If you have any questions, please contact our District Nurse, Alexandra Platz, at 626-441-5830.