Staff Report

WARSAW — Five students at Warsaw Community High School have been recently diagnosed with COVID-19.

According to a letter sent to WCHS parents, contact tracing for all five students took place Monday, Nov. 2. Tracing went back to the last time a positive student was in the building. The most recent was on Oct. 28.

All families with students in close contact were notified by WCHS and the Kosciusko County Health Department, informing them to quarantine and not return to school for 14 days after the last exposure.

Close contact is defined as being within six feet of the infected person for 15 or more minutes, cumulative in nature. The most common symptoms of COVID-19 infection are fever or chills with a temperature of 100.4 and above; coughing and shortness of breath; sore throat; headache; diarrhea; nausea; vomiting; abdominal pain; or new loss of taste and smell. Symptoms usually develop between two to 14 days after exposure. Some infected persons never develop symptoms.

“As a reminder, during this pandemic, it is wise to keep your child home if they are ill for any reason,” reads the letter. “Also, please remember that students who are awaiting test results are not allowed to attend school.”

On Monday, Nov. 2, Rochester Community Schools announced it would cease in-class learning for two weeks as a result of the pandemic.

The change in policy comes as Kosciusko Country and other nearby counties report significant spikes in the number of cases of COVID-19.