Francis Lewis High School Staffer Tests Positive For COVID-19

UPDATE: This story has been updated to clarify that the staffer who tested positive for the virus has not reported to the school building.

FRESH MEADOWS, QUEENS — A staffer at Francis Lewis High School is among several dozen educators who have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to Department of Education data released Tuesday night.

The individual is among staffers at 56 New York City public schools — including 10 schools in Queens — where there have been confirmed cases of the virus, the Department of Education said.

A Department of Education spokesperson later clarified that the person had not reported to the school building.

All those who tested positive have been instructed to isolate, and the city's Test & Trace Corps and Department of Health are working on tracking down others who were in close contact with them.

Schools with confirmed cases remained open, except for two schools that reported two separate cases: P.S. 811X The Academy for Career and Living Skill in the Bronx and P.S. 139 in Brooklyn. Both were closed automatically for an initial 24-hour period for a deep cleaning and as officials investigated whether the cases were linked.

Outside the New York City public school system, a yeshiva in Far Rockaway was ordered closed after at least 13 cases of the virus were confirmed there, Politico New York reported. Department of Health officials arrived at the school Tuesday to shut it down after it continued holding in-person classes, according to Gothamist.

Students signed up for a mixture of in-person and remote learning are scheduled to return to the classroom Monday, though the already-delayed school year started remotely Wednesday with an online orientation.