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St. Anne's Episcopal School in Denver to remain closed through Tuesday for thorough cleaning

Parent of student tested positive for COVID-19
Posted at 12:39 AM, Mar 09, 2020
and last updated 2020-03-09 07:23:56-04

DENVER — St. Anne's Episcopal School in Denver will remain closed through Tuesday so crews can perform a thorough cleaning of all the buildings, and so faculty and staff can be further trained on how to deal with possible novel coronavirus exposures.

Four hundred and twenty-six students attend St. Anne's for preschool through 8th grade.

In a statement to Denver7, a spokeswoman said, "On Tuesday, the school will prepare contingency plans, such as distance learning, should such plans become a necessity."

This is coming after the parent of one of St. Anne's students tested positive for COVID-19.

READ MORE: Coronavirus in Colorado: COVID-19 cases, locations and live updates across the state

Colorado's State Epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy said conversations about closing the school for cleaning is ongoing. She said it's important for public health and school officials to work together to make those kinds of determinations.

St. Anne's plans to reopen Wednesday.

Denver7 also learned there is no longer concern about a possible exposure at Ranch View Middle School in Highlands Ranch. In a news release, the Douglas County School District said the person's test result was negative.

In Denver, two students who attend East High School are in "self-quarantine," after administrators learned that their family was in contact with a person in Colorado who tested positive for COVID-19. The school said no students at East have tested positive.

So far, eight people have tested presumptive positive for COVID-19 in Colorado.

When asked how widespread the outbreak could become in Colorado, Herlihy said it's difficult to know at this point.

"In Colorado, we believe the cases we have are mostly associated with travel, but it is possible over the next couple of days and weeks that we could see some more transmission here in the state," she said.