Covert Avenue School closed, Carlson students quarantined

The Covert Avenue School in Elmont will remain closed until Nov. 24, Elmont Superintendent Kenenth Rosner announced on Nov. 10, after district officials were informed of two separate instances of students’ family members testing positive for the coronavirus.

The announcement came as the school was already closed to enable district officials to enable district officials to clean the building and provide the Nassau County Health Department with time to conduct contact tracing, after a staff member at the school was considered a “close contact” of an individual who had the virus.

As a result, Rosner said, “a large number of staff members were considered to be close contacts” and will be notified about their status as such by school personnel. No staff member or student, however, had tested positive for the virus as of Nov. 10.

Additionally, Rosner wrote, a family member of a student at the Clara H. Carlson School tested positive, and the district immediately began contact tracing. No student or staff member had tested positive for the virus in this case either, Rosner said, but out of an abundance of caution, district officials decided to quarantine the student and his or her class, which will also learn remotely.

The building, meanwhile, and especially the rooms that the quarantined students used will again be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.