Ahead Of New Year, Port Washington Schools Worker Contracts Virus

PORT WASHINGTON, NY — A member of the Port Washington Union Free School District tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, just three weeks before the start of the new school year.

In a letter to the district community Tuesday, superintendent Michael Hynes said the district learned last Sunday that a non-teaching staffer tested positive. The district alerted the Nassau County Department of Health to begin tracing the people who came in contact with the staffer. Hynes said the district learned Monday that all district employees who came in contact with the staffer tested negative.

"With these results, the NCDOH indicated it was not necessary for the District to take any further action," Hynes wrote in the letter. "However, we have promised the community we will be totally transparent about all instances of either a student, teacher or District staff member testing positive for Covid-19 and what the follow-up actions will be."

The staffer must quarantine at home for two weeks and can return to work once the district receives medical clearance from a doctor and documentation of a negative test at the end of the quarantine period.

All buildings and other district facilities the staffer might have visited over the past two weeks will be cleaned and sanitized in addition to routine cleanings.