The site displays case numbers dating back to the beginning of the pandemic for students and staff, as well as information about COVID exposures. According to Wasatch County School District Information Officer Kirsta Albert, it updates every hour through automated databases managed by school health aides.
The webpage, created by the district in-house, is now the primary source for COVID information relating to Wasatch County schools. Parents will no longer receive emails about exposures. Instead that information will be available on school-specific pages on the website.
In Wasatch County schools, when students test positive for COVID or believe they have it, they’re supposed to report that and stay home for five days. School guidelines allow them to return to school when they no longer have symptoms and wear a mask for five days. The school district follows statewide guidelines for managing COVID.
A list for each school identifies recent exposures by teacher name, class period and date. For example, the Wasatch High School page shows details about exposures in 18 classes over the past two weeks.
The site also shows specific case numbers by grade, using charts to compare figures by school and show case volumes over time.
The district launched the webpage late last week, when the numbers showed a significant dropoff in cases from a January surge.
In January, about 650 students and 100 staff members had COVID - more than the entire first semester of the current school year. According to the Wasatch County Health Department, if Utah hadn’t canceled the test-to-stay program, nearly all Wasatch County schools would’ve required students to test negative to be on campuses.
The legislature canceled the program statewide, citing ineffectiveness and a lack of resources as reasons.
So far in February, only 20 students and one staff member reported having COVID.
For more detailed information about COVID in schools, visit covid.wasatch.edu.
