Well - are we really suprised.

A week or so ago our new school board removed the mask mandate.  (One of the new school board member's wife DIED from Covid the week before the election and he still voted to remove the mandate before the littlest people are fully vaccinated.)

Well Monday I received this letter from Joel's school: 

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Parents/Guardians,

A confirmed case of COVID-19 has been reported in your student's classroom at Ankeny Centennial High School. You are receiving this notice because of this exposure.  

According to the latest guidance from the Iowa Department of Public Health, your child does NOT need to quarantine and may return to school as scheduled.

Due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), neither the district, school building secretary, or your school nurse is able to provide exact exposure information.

We are providing the following information to ensure your safety and help reduce the spread of COVID-19. 

• We advise you to monitor for symptoms that may appear after exposure.

• Symptoms may include: fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion, runny nose, nausea or vomiting and diarrhea. Not all cases will have symptoms.

• It is important to keep your child(ren) home if they are ill or symptomatic. If they receive a positive test, they must stay home for 10 days and let the school know of their test results. 
  

We understand this can be confusing and frustrating, but we are required to implement these practices in line with the guidance we have received. Each family needs to make the best health decision for their child(ren). If you have questions about COVID-19, we encourage you to contact your school nurse, your own health care provider, and/or the Iowa Department of Public Health at (515) 281-7689. 

The Ankeny Community School District is also keeping updated information on our COVID-19 dashboard: https://www.ankenyschools.org/district/covid-19-dashboard/.

Thank you,

Ankeny Centennial High School

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The letter caused me to say to Joel.  Do you have a sniffle?  Yes he did,  so I bought a rapid Antigen COVID test.

POSITIVE result

BUMMER

Especially if you remember this photo:

Where Joel is basically singing in the front row of a choir concert for 3 concerts in 2 days.  Yes.  Maybe I could have made him wear a mask, but he was vaccinated and I didn't know he had a Covid exposure until the next day.  Less than 10% of the kids and audience had on a mask, and he is 17 and would have hated it since there was no mandate.  (Ken and I did wear masks though because I am definitely a "better safe than sorry" person.)

So hopefully he had such a low viral load that he didn't spread the disease!  

HERE IS THE FUNNY PART:  Everyone at Centennial got a notice that they were exposed on Monday.....I think it was an accident based on what the nurses said  So I tested Joel by accident and found he had Covid.  On Tuesday he said he felt "perfect" and I would never have given it another thought!  OH MY!  I guess it was meant to be.

A day before Joel's assumed exposure, the CDC said Joel's age range could get a booster....he was getting his this Saturday. "Day late and a dollar short" as they say!