Coronavirus: Emmett School District will require masks after Thanksgiving break
The Emmett School District will require all students and staff to wear masks following Thanksgiving break.
The district’s board of trustees voted 4-1 to pass a measure from Superintendent Craig Woods during a Monday meeting that would mandate the wearing of masks and face coverings starting Nov. 30 and ending Dec. 18, according to a news release from the district.
Students who don’t want to follow the mask requirement can enroll in the district’s online program. Only students who have documented health issues will be exempt from the mandate.
Board members said they will consider measures that would exempt students and staff who already had COVID-19 from wearing masks. The board will also consider a measure that would allow students and staff not to quarantine following a possible exposure if they were wearing a mask at the time of exposure. Both items will be considered at the next board meeting, which is scheduled for Nov. 30.
Prior to the measure being passed, Emmett schools took surveys of parents, staff and students. The results showed that staff who responded to the survey were in favor of a mask mandate, as 64% of 195 staff members said they would support it. Of those staffers, 42% said yes to keeping classrooms open for face-to-face learning.
Of the 954 parents that responded to the survey, 68% wanted to keep in-person classes and 46% said they would support a mask mandate. Of the 400 students that filled out the survey, 66% wanted to keep in-person learning and 40% said they would support a mask mandate.
“We’ve said all along that our No. 1 goal has been to keep all students in the classrooms for face-to-face learning while keeping students and staff safe,” Woods said in the release.
Idaho reports 31 new coronavirus-related deaths, new record for cases
Breaking yet another grim record, Idaho health officials reported 31 new coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday — smashing the previous record of 18 deaths reported in a day. That mark was reached twice before it was broken.
Idaho Department Health and Welfare officials reported a person between the ages of 18-29 had died, the state’s second COVID-19-related death in that age range. Five Idahoans in their 30s have also died from the virus.
Six of Tuesday’s recorded deaths were in Ada County, and Bannock County reported three deaths. Twin Falls and Bonneville counties added five deaths apiece.
Idaho now has 803 deaths due to the coronavirus.
Two of the Treasure Valley’s largest hospital groups reported alarmingly high positive test rates among its patients. Saint Alphonsus Health System reported that 72 of the 297 people tested Monday were COVID-19 positive. At the St. Luke’s Health System, 128 of the 521 patients tested Monday were positive for COVID-19.
Health officials also reported the largest number of new cases since the coronavirus pandemic began, adding 1,264 confirmed cases and 375 probable cases — a total of 1,639 — on Tuesday.
Ada County reported 278 new confirmed cases, bringing its total to 19,121 as of Tuesday. Canyon County reported 122 confirmed cases, as its total grew to 11,686. Also reporting a triple-digit total on Tuesday was Kootenai County, which added 179 new confirmed cases. Its total for confirmed cases is now 5,616.
Numerous Idaho counties reported double-digit case counts Tuesday, including Nez Perce (98 new), Latah (29), Idaho (19), Clearwater (12), Bingham (27), Franklin (19), Oneida (12), Gem (16), Bonneville (88), Jefferson (16), Madison (61), Bonner (35), Shoshone (31), Blaine (20), Cassia (22), Jerome (15), Minidoka (17) and Twin Falls (51).
As of Monday, Health and Welfare reports that 436,033 people have been tested for the coronavirus in Idaho, with about 16.7% of those people testing positive for the virus.
All counties except Adams have reports of community spread.
All of Idaho’s 44 counties have confirmed cases of the coronavirus: Ada 19,121, Adams 72, Bannock 2,309, Bear Lake 128, Benewah 223, Bingham 1,584, Blaine 1,045, Boise 88, Bonner 697, Bonneville 4,903, Boundary 131, Butte 98, Camas 39, Canyon 11,686, Caribou 255, Cassia 1,747, Clark 39, Clearwater 292, Custer 111, Elmore 538, Franklin 428, Fremont 582, Gem 541, Gooding 622, Idaho 530, Jefferson 1,042, Jerome 1,406, Kootenai 5,616, Latah 1,378, Lemhi 358, Lewis 143, Lincoln 263, Madison 3,116, Minidoka 1,422, Nez Perce 1,712, Oneida 93, Owyhee 461, Payette 1,179, Power 348, Shoshone 411, Teton 372, Twin Falls 5,020, Valley 166, Washington 527.
This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 12:16 PM.
