Cape Public Schools’ COVID-19 Key Terms
Dear Tiger Families,
We hope you had a great weekend and are as excited as we are to have students back in session on August 24th! We realize how important it is that we share information on how we’ll handle COVID-19 cases, as well as other general information related to the pandemic before school starts. This week, we will be sending an email each day to help give you a better understanding of how the District is working to keep kids and faculty safe.
Today, our focus is on key terms you could be hearing us refer to as we inform you of a potential case or promote general information about how COVID-19 is impacting our community. Please take a moment to read through the key terms below.
Key Cape Girardeau Public Schools COVID-19 Terms
District Contact Tracer (DCT): A Cape Girardeau Public Schools employee who is responsible for working with the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center to help communicate with the public about COVID-19 cases relevant to the school district.
Close contact: Someone who has been with a person who tested positive without a mask and within six feet of that (positive) person for longer than 15 minutes.
Contact to a contact: Someone who has been in contact with a person who has been in close contact of a positive case.
Positive case: Someone who has tested positive, with or without symptoms.
Asymptomatic: Someone who is sick but does not show symptoms and will not develop them later.
Presymptomatic: Someone who has COVID-19 but does not have any symptoms yet.
Symptomatic: Someone who is sick and showing symptoms.
Presumptive positive case: A person who has tested positive for COVID-19 by a local public health lab but whose results are awaiting confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Screening: The act of checking people for symptoms.
Self-isolation: Staying away from other people because you are sick.
Self-quarantine: Staying away from other people because you have been exposed to a sick person.
Social distancing: The act of putting physical space between people to decrease the spread of illness. In the case of COVID-19, it is recommended to keep six feet of space between yourself and others.
Face covering: A mask or cloth that covers the mouth and nose used to help protect other people from your germs.
Tomorrow, we will be sharing our COVID-19 Communications Process so you will have a better understanding of how we will communicate with you if a COVID-19 case could impact our school community. Thank you for your continued patience and support.
-CGPS