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Effective Contact Tracing Essential to CCES Remaining Open

by Jamie Bryant, Director of Strategic Marketing & Communications
 
This summer, in an effort to be proactive and responsive, seven full-time CCES faculty members trained to become contact tracers through the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health Program.  The online course launched in May to train the army of contact tracers needed across the country to slow the spread of COVID-19. 
 
The course focused on the science of SARS-CoV-2, including the infectious period, the clinical presentation of COVID-19, the evidence for how SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted from person-to-person, and why contact tracing can be such an effective public health intervention. 

The CCES Contact Tracers are;

Lower School:
Donna Hayden and Elaine Parker
Middle School:
James Greco and Stacey Ejiri
Upper School:
Laura Harling, Aaron Whited, Stacey Ejiri

and others who wish to remain anonymous.
 
This team is responsible for gathering and recording information on any student or faculty member who may have been exposed to COVID-19— reviewing symptoms, names of people they’ve recently interacted with, and offering support and guidance for families.  Through the course, they learned how to effectively support both cases and their contacts to stop transmission in our community and gleaned many important ethical considerations around contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine.  
 
Stacey Ejiri, Middle/Upper School Nurse, thought the course was “very clear and comprehensive.” It entailed about 6-7 hours of online training over the course of four modules.  “At first I thought the course was going to be fairly simple,” said Laura Harling, Upper School Administrative Assistant, “but it was nothing close to that.  I found myself taking notes and going back to re-watch lessons to make sure I really understood how to trace.  There is so much involved in tracing.”  Test and Quizzes were mandatory after just about every session.  The class culminated in a 40-question graded test that “students” needed to score at least an 85% or higher on.
 
“Basically, contact tracing works to identify people who may have been exposed to the virus,” said James Greco, Middle School Dean of Students.  “When done correctly, it reduces the transmission rate, as people who may or may not be symptomatic won't be able to come in contact with others in the community.  If we can lower that transmission rate, we can slow the spread of the virus and keep people healthy and in school.”
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    • Not pictured: Elaine Parker

Christ Church Episcopal School (“CCES”) admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at CCES. CCES does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, national or ethnic origin, creed, religion, or sexual orientation in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, financial aid, scholarship or other programs, or athletic or other school-administered programs and activities.