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Othello teacher tests positive for coronavirus

CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 7 months AGO
by CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | September 2, 2020 1:00 AM

OTHELLO — A teacher at Scootney Springs Elementary has tested positive for the coronavirus, and a second Scootney Springs teacher is displaying COVID-19 symptoms. Both are under quarantine, and so are seven other Scootney Springs staff members.

Ed Petersen, Othello School District communications director, said the teacher who tested positive took the test Aug. 26 and was not at Scootney Springs when parents and students came to the school for the district’s “soft opening” event. The teacher has not been identified.

Three teachers and two aides who had close contact with the teacher who tested positive are under quarantine. The teacher who tested positive is not displaying any symptoms, nor are the teachers and aides who came into contact with him or her.

Two staff members have family members who have tested positive for the coronavirus or are displaying symptoms. They are in quarantine.

Othello is the center of coronavirus activity in Adams County - of the 641 cases in the county as of Aug. 31, 603 have been in Othello.

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