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LOWER MERION Lower Merion School District officials are reporting that faulty HVAC equipment might have contributed to eight students and two vaccinated family members contracting the COVID virus.
According to district officials, eight students in one second-grade classroom and two vaccinated family members at Penn Valley Elementary School have tested positive for the COVID virus.
Beyond this one second-grade class, the district said they have not seen any other evidence of in-school transmission in Penn Valley.
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In a letter sent out to families after learning about the positive cases, the school district operations department launched an investigation into the outbreak.
UpdatedMon, Apr 26, 2021 at 11:32 am ET
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A Montgomery County school district has seen an outbreak of the coronavirus, including two fully vaccinated family members. (Shutterstock)
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA Eight students and two fully vaccinated family members have contracted the coronavirus stemming from an outbreak at a Montgomery County elementary school, officials confirmed Monday.
Authorities have noted in the past that transmission among young students, as well as cases among the fully vaccinated, are both extremely rare.
A variant strain of the virus could be responsible for the outbreak, which occurred in a second grade class at Penn Valley Elementary School in the Lower Merion School District. The district said the class has been quarantined since Friday and that no other cases have occurred elsewhere in the school.
LMSD cannot say definitively whether the diminished fresh airflow contributed to the outbreak; however, it could be a factor, the district said. Montgomery County Office of Public Health has also noted the possibility of a variant strain of COVID-19 being a factor, citing both the rapid spread within the class and the fact that two vaccinated family members of impacted students have also tested positive.
Children generally have mild COVID-19 infections, but they have been identified as a growing source of possible spread of the virus and its variants.
The B.1.1.7 variant, in particular, has been linked to increased spread of COVID-19 in schools, which have gradually expanded in-person learning over the last several months. Pennsylvania has had among the highest rates of B.1.1.7 transmission in the United States, accounting for about one third of the state s variant infections as of last week, according to CDC data.
COVID-19 outbreak reported among 2nd grade class at Penn Valley Elementary School
Lower Merion officials investigating COVID-19 outbreak amid 2nd-grade classroom
Officials say a total of eight students in the Penn Valley Elementary School classroom tested positive for COVID-19, as did two family members who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
NARBERTH, Pa. - Members of a second-grade classroom in Montgomery County are quarantining after an outbreak of COVID-19 rocked them at Penn Valley Elementary School in Narberth.
Eight people in the classroom have tested positive for COVID-19, as well as two family members of the students who are fully vaccinated. School district officials said the first case was reported on April 15th, through the district reporting line. They had five students in close contact quarantine, but as cases popped up days after, they decided to quarantine the entire classroom.