Plainview School Staffer Infected With Coronavirus

PLAINVIEW, NY — A Plainview schools staff member contracted the new coronavirus, the Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District announced Monday.

All schools will close Tuesday "as a precautionary measure," Lorna Lewis, the superintendent, said in an announcement on the district's website. The school contacted local and federal health officials and will update the community by 1 p.m. Tuesday, the announcement said.

The staff member notified the district of the virus, the message said. All facility use after 6 p.m. Monday was canceled to allow for a thorough cleaning, officials said.

See the message at the Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District website.

Follow all the coronavirus updates in New York. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.

See also:

• Cuomo Signs $40M Bill To Battle Coronavirus
• Coronavirus On Long Island: Schools Close As Disease Spreads
• Coronavirus: 142 NY Cases, Schools Close, State Makes Hand Soap
• Plainview Schools Respond To Coronavirus Outbreak
• Greenport Harbor Brewery Worker Is 1st Suffolk Coronavirus Case

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that state health and education officials will work together to issue guidance for schools in the event that students, teachers and other staff test positive for the virus. Under the policy, schools would have to close for at least 24 hours to allow the school enough time to disinfect buildings.

On Monday, all schools in the Shoreham-Wading River School District in Suffolk County were closed after a staff member's spouse may have been exposed to coronavirus. Also on Monday, it was confirmed that a worker at a popular Long Island brewery was the first Suffolk County patient being treated for coronavirus.

Hofstra University canceled all in-person classes this week after a student reported flu-like symptoms and Columbia University canceled all classes Monday and Tuesday after a school member was exposed to the disease, officially known as COVID-19. Scarsdale schools also just announced it would shut down through March 18.

Laura Curran, the Nassau County executive, postponed her annual State of the County address — initially scheduled for Wednesday — to focus on the virus.

Cuomo told reporters Monday state officials will send schools, the MTA and other public entities its own hand sanitizer consisting of 75 percent alcohol. The move is meant to combat price-gouging.

"This is a superior product to products now in the market," Cuomo said, noting that the sanitizer comes in a variety of flavors. The soap is cheaper than anything the government would be able to buy, he said.

This article has been corrected to reflect the district did not specify whether the staffer worked at a high school.