MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – Health officials say a COVID-19 outbreak at a childcare center in Dane County was caused in part by families with children in different classrooms who infected each other.
Health officials first reported the outbreak on April 5, originally saying that 21 children and workers tested positive for the virus, plus 14 family members of students or daycare workers tested positive for COVID-19. On Friday, Madison & Dane County pointed out to public health that four more family members of these children or workers tested positive for the virus.
PHMDC noted that two factors played a major role in the outbreak class and COVID-19 variants.
PHMDC explained that families had multiple children in different classrooms, meaning that a person from one classroom was initially infected, and then the virus would spread to family members in another classroom at home. The person would then disperse to the classroom where the student attended or where the employee worked.
Health officials have warned that siblings of students who test positive must stay home until they meet the criteria for public health to return. Students can return if they have been fever-free for 24 hours, their other symptoms have improved and it is at least ten days since their symptoms started.
However, PHMDC said that the infectious B.1.1.7 variant makes it difficult to catch COVID-19 quickly, as this variant spreads faster and easier than the original strain of COVID-19. The CDC recently reported that this variant, first distributed in the United Kingdom, is the most prominent variant in the United States.
PHMDC asked families to monitor all symptoms, noting that many of the children’s symptoms were mild. Families should also not accept that their child’s symptoms are of colds or allergies, and health officials have stressed the importance of having children tested for the virus.
Dane County noted earlier on April 9 that COVID-19 cases in children under 16 were significantly increased the past month.
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