Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some causing respiratory illness in people and others circulating among animals. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can evolve and infect people and then spread between people. Previous coronavirus outbreaks have included severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) believes the risk to the American public of becoming infected with this novel coronavirus is currently low. Because this is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation, the CDC will provide updated information as it becomes available, including any changes in the risk assessment.

Symptoms of coronavirus are similar to flu or colds and may include: 

• Runny nose
• Headache
• Cough
• Sore throat  
• Fever
• A general feeling of being unwell

Human coronaviruses most commonly spread from an infected person to others through: 

• The air by coughing and sneezing
• Close personal contact, such as touching or shaking hands
• Touching an object or surface with the virus on it, then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes before washing your hands
• Rarely, fecal contamination with coronavirus present

Although we have a lot to learn about this virus, it is currently believed that it spreads like other respiratory viruses- by people with the infection coughing and sneezing. These droplets are inhaled by other people or moved to the eyes, nose or mouth by contaminated hands. 

Students are safe to come to school. However, just like with any illness, families should keep students at home who are sick and show flu-like symptoms: 

• Fever
• Cough
• Shortness of breath
• Body aches
• Tiredness
• Sore throat
• Headache
• Diarrhea

You can reduce the risk of spreading coronaviruses by taking the same steps as you would to prevent infection from the flu and the common cold: 

• Wash hands often with soap and water for a least 20 seconds. Use hand sanitizer, with 60- 95% alcohol if water is not available.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.
• Avoid contact with people who are sick.
• Stay home while you are sick and avoid close contact with others.
• Cover your mouth and nose with your elbow or a tissue when coughing or sneezing, and immediately dispose of the used tissue.

Students, staff, and volunteers who are: 

• Ill with a fever, cough, or have difficulty breathing AND have traveled from China in the last 14 days.
• Ill with fever, cough, or difficulty breathing AND have been identified by public health officials as a recent close contact of a confirmed COVID-19 case or had recent close contact with someone who is being evaluated for COVID-19 infection.

If you are traveling out of the country during Spring Break, as of March 9, the Center for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified four countries for which it has issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice. A Level 3 Travel Notice is one that recommends travelers avoid all non-essential travel to the particular. The four countries are China, Iran, South Korea, and Italy.

We encourage everyone in our community to go to the CDC’s website for factual, up-to-date information regarding COVID-19, the flu, and other seasonal viruses.

Our professional custodial staff are working hard every day to keep schools clean and healthy places for all students and staff. Specifically, our efforts to protect students and teachers from flu-like symptoms include sanitizing touchpoints, places that are touched frequently throughout the day: 

• Door Handles / Knobs
• Door Push Bars
• Light Switches
• Sink Fawcett Handles / Knobs
• Drinking Fountains
• Paper Towel Dispensers
• Electric Hand Dryers
• Hand Soap Dispensers
• Stairwell Handrails
• Toilet / Urinal Handles
• Toilet Stall Door Handles
• Counter Tops
• Elevator Control Buttons

Products used include:

• Electrostaic Sprayers
• Oxivir, accelerated Hydrogen Peroxide kills common pathogens, critical viruses and bacteria in the healthcare environment. Effective for soft surface sanitizing, and is non-irritating to eyes and skin, and requires no safety warnings.

Close contact is a person who has been within about 6 feet of a person with confirmed novel coronavirus infection for a prolonged period of time or has had direct contact with secretions from a person with confirmed novel coronavirus infection. 

Schools do not need to take any special precautions beyond what is normally recommended to prevent the spread of viruses in schools. You can help students and staff reduce their risk of getting and spreading viral respiratory infections, including the flu and the common cold, by encouraging them to take simple steps which will also prevent COVID-19.

These include: 

Staying home when they are sick.

• Frequent handwashing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating, and after they blow their nose. Help young children do the same. If hands are visibly dirty, use soap and water to clean hands.
• If soap and water are not readily available, using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
• Advising persons to avoid touching their eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Following the school's routine cleaning and disinfection program. Emphasizing to clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
• Covering coughs or sneezes with a tissue, then throwing the tissue in the trash and cleaning hands with soap and water or hand sanitizer (if soap and water are not readily available).
• Urging students and staff to get a flu shot during the flu season.
• Providing adequate supplies for good hygiene, including clean and functional handwashing stations, soap, paper towels, and alcohol‐based hand sanitizer.

CISD staff disinfects school buses using the same technique as the classroom cleaning. 

With the right support from the adults around them, children and youth can manage their stress in response to infectious disease outbreaks and take steps to keep themselves emotionally and physically healthy. The most important ways to help are to make sure children feel connected, cared about, and loved. 

If you are sick, you should take steps you normally would when sick, including focusing on caring for your health, contacting your healthcare provider if you feel you need to, not attending class if contagious, and in the event you miss class due to illness, working with your instructor on any necessary arrangements for making up coursework.

If you develop symptoms — such as a fever, cough or shortness of breath — within 14 days of your return from personal or official travel to a country with a COVID-19 outbreak OR have been exposed to someone with confirmed COVID-19, please take the steps listed below.

If you have NOT returned in the past 14 days from travel to a country with a COVID-19 outbreak OR have NOT been exposed to someone with confirmed COVID-19 but do have a fever and respiratory symptoms, please also take the following steps. 

First: Call your health provider in advance. Please do not show up at a clinic, urgent care or other health facilities without calling first. Your provider will need to take special measures to protect other people in the clinic.

The CDC also advises you to: 

• Avoid contact with others and do not travel while sick.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when coughing or sneezing.
• Clean your hands by washing them with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains 60%–95% alcohol immediately after coughing, sneezing, or blowing your nose. Soap and water should be used if hands are visibly dirty.

Monitor your symptoms closely. Remember that the likelihood is low that you have coronavirus. Take your temperature if you believe you have a fever. 

Stay home from school and work until at least 24 hours after your fever ends. If you must go out of the house or be around others, wear a mask and avoid close contact. Be especially careful around infants and small children as well as people who have compromised immune systems and/or are over the age of 65. If you returned from China in the last 14 days, and your arrival date was February 2 or later, you will have received instructions from the CDC and from the local or state health department. Please follow these instructions. Guidelines for travelers returning from other countries are available from the CDC. 

Take care of yourself. Rest as much as possible. Drink lots of fluids. 

Even if you haven’t returned from one of these countries if you have respiratory illness plus a fever you could have the flu or another virus. Please contact your healthcare provider or nurse advice line before going to a clinic or doctor’s office.

Additional note for anyone arriving recently from China: Based on CDC guidance, if you have arrived in the U.S. on or after Feb. 3, 2020, AND visited mainland China in the previous 14 days, you should stay at home and not attend class until a full 14 days have passed since your last day in mainland China. 

People with suspected or confirmed exposure to COVID-19 should reach out to their healthcare provider. As public health professionals we really appreciate clinicians on the front lines of patient care and they are critical to this response." 

1. Do not go to the emergency room unless essential. Emergency rooms need to be able to serve those with the most critical needs. If you have symptoms like cough, fever, or other respiratory problems, contact your regular doctor first.
2. Stay home when sick.
3. Practice excellent personal hygiene habits, including handwashing, coughing into tissue or elbow, avoid touching eyes, nose, or mouth.

Stay away from people who are ill, especially if you are 60 and older or have underlying health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, or a weakened immune system. 

Working with the Texas Department of Health and Human Services we will make determinations on any school closing. 

For current information about this evolving public health situation, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2019 Novel Coronavirus page. 

Don’t try to field these questions yourself. The district communications department is working closely with the Texas Department of Health and Human Services and following the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control.  As a district, it is important to send a consistent message.  You can direct them to this FAQ page on the district website Coronavirus webpage. It is being updated regularly as we receive new questions.

Because we are in the middle of the cold and flu season, many students may be absent due to illness. School staff routinely request medical documentation from a student for any absences. 

Public health agencies currently do not recommend that people wear masks when they are in public. This is because the immediate health risk to the general public in Texas is currently low. Additionally, scientists are not sure whether wearing a mask in public actually keeps healthy people from getting sick.  It’s most important for people who are sick to wear a mask in a healthcare setting (such as a waiting room) to avoid exposing other people when they cough or sneeze. 

In some parts of the world, mask use is customary. People wear masks often for a variety of reasons, including to avoid pollen and air pollution, as a courtesy to others when they have a common cold, and for other cultural and even social reasons.

The Texas Department of Health and Human Services recommends staying home and away from others if you are sick. However, keep in mind that if we see our friends, neighbors or other community members wearing a mask we should not assume that they have been exposed to coronavirus or any other illness (coronavirus is not currently present in our community). Because mask use is customary in some cultures, it’s not appropriate to make assumptions about why someone is wearing a mask or to stigmatize or discriminate against people who choose to wear masks.

We understand that some community members are concerned. Remember that according to our state and local health departments, the risk to our community and to the U.S. population as a whole is currently low. 

You can help prevent the spread of colds and other viral ailments by doing the following:

• Cover your mouth and nose with your elbow or a tissue when you cough or sneeze, and immediately dispose of the tissue.
• Wash your hands often and avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
• Clean and disinfect surfaces that are frequently touched.