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.
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The Perkiomen Creek dam at Lower Perkiomen Valley Park. (Courtesy of Montgomery County)
Montgomery County is expanding and upgrading its network of trails, to meet growing demand during the pandemic. The Schuylkill River Trail will see a new connector to Route 422 near Pottstown, which will essentially help build the link from Chester County all the way south to Philadelphia.
“Whenever we are doing trail planning work, we always think about where the trails can go into Bucks or into Philadelphia or into Chester counties, because this network is well beyond Montgomery County’s boundary. So it’s really a regional effort to build out these trails,” said Bill Hartman, section chief of trails and open space planning for the Montgomery County Planning Commission.
Montco Trail Challenge kicks off May 1 with new water trail and Interactive StoryWalk thereporteronline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thereporteronline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
POTTSTOWNÂ â The pause initiated for use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine did not close the newly opened Pottstown clinic for very long.
The Rev. Vernon Ross, pastor of Bethel Community Church of Pottstown at 575 N. Keim St., where the clinic is located, announced Wednesday the clinic will reopen Thursday and provide the two-dose Pfizer vaccine instead.
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The countyâs decision was in accordance with new guidance from federal and state officials.
But Ross said the Pottstown site will pivot to offering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine instead. This regimen requires two doses, so those who receive it will have to return in three weeks for a second shot.