HOLLISTER
A school official today told the Free Lance today there is no new information regarding the H1N1 outbreak and there are no confirmed cases here beyond the one Rancho San Justo Middle School student.
“The latest information that we got from the county was information on what H1N1 is,” said Jesus Romero, administrative assistant to the superintendent for the Hollister School District. “And as far as I know, they haven’t contacted us to say anything different.”
Regarding the status of the infected student, Romero said the county has not informed the school district of anything new.
According to a letter from Rancho San Justo Principal Donald Knapp to parents (see the entire letter below), the attendance for May 6 – Wednesday – was 92 percent for students and 100 percent for teachers.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention Web site – www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/ – today said there have been 1,639 confirmed cases of swine flu in 43 different states causing two deaths as of 8 a.m. California has had 107 confirmed cases. Only New York (174), Illinois (392), Wisconsin (240) and Arizona (131) have had more confirmed cases, according the CDC site.
County officials are still in the process of identifying where the student came into contact with the H1N1 virus but the student is at home recovering and should be back to school next week.
The county health department is conducting outreach to the family to see if there are other family members manifesting flu-like symptoms. County Public Health Information Officer Samela Perez said earlier in the week that interviews are also being done at Rancho San Justo Middle School with staff who provide instruction to the student.
Perez could not be reached immediately today before publication.
The following is the letter from Rancho’s principal:
Dear Rancho San Justo Parents/Guardians:
Re: H1N1 Update
Representatives from San Benito County Health Department and Hollister School District Superintendent, Dr. Crates, met with the Rancho San Justo staff before school this morning, Wednesday, May 06th. It was reported that about 4:15pm, Tuesday, May 5th, a 6th grade Rancho student had been identified as highly probable for the H1N1 virus. This student has been out of school since Wednesday, April 29th. The SBC Health Department staff is making home visits and closely monitoring the student and his family. They report that he has recovered, but will remain out of school until next week. His sister, also a Rancho student, was excluded from school Monday, May 4th, and will remain out for at least seven days, again being closely monitored by SBCHD. We are taking all the necessary precautions here at the school site to make sure that all students are in a safe environment and will keep you posted if any other actions need to be taken.
We would like to thank the San Benito County Health Department and Dr. Crates for their immediate response, and parent and staff notification.
May 6th attendance,
Students – 92%
Teachers – 100%
Please note the information provided by the SBCHD regarding the H1N1 flu virus.
Donald Knapp, Principal
