MADISON, Russia. (WMTV) – Health officials say a outbreak of COVID-19 at a child care center in Dane County was partly caused by families with children in different classrooms who become infected.
Health officials first reported the outbreak on April 5, initially saying that 21 children and workers tested positive for the virus, plus 14 family members of students or kindergarten workers tested positive for COVID-19. On Friday, Public Health Madison & Dane County updated that four more family members of these children or workers tested positive for the virus.
PHMDC noted that two factors played a major role in the crossover focus in the classroom and in the COVID-19 variants.
PHMDC explained that families have several children in different classes, which means that a person in one class was initially infected and then the virus spread home to family members in another class. The person then spread to the classroom where the student participated or where the employee worked.
Health officials have warned that siblings of students who test positive must stay home until they meet the public health criteria for return. Students may return when they have been without a fever for 24 hours, the other symptoms have improved, and at least 10 days have passed since their symptoms began.
However, PHMDC said that the contagious variant B.1.1.7 makes it difficult to capture COVID-19 quickly, as this variant spreads faster and easier than the original strain of COVID-19. The CDC recently reported that this variant, first found in circulation in the United Kingdom, is the most prominent variant currently in the United States.
PHMDC urged families to monitor all symptoms, noting that many of the children’s symptoms were mild. Families should also not assume that their child’s symptoms are caused by a cold or allergies, and health officials have emphasized the importance of testing the virus for children.
Dane County had previously noted on April 9 that they had COVID-19 cases in children under 16 has grown significantly in the last month.
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