This statement was issued Monday afternoon by Clint Schwarz, Texas County Emergency Management Director.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Your county agencies including Emergency Management, Health Department, Medical professionals and Educational leaders have continued to address the dynamic COVID-19 situation. Contingency planning is continuing and will be based on the best available science as we receive it.
At this time, scientific modeling as well as three months of practical experience around the world suggests that closure of schools in the absence of community cases does not change disease outcome for the community or individual students. However, as community cases develop, parents, teachers, community organizations and employers need to plan for the possibility of sustained closures. Also, short closures have not been shown to impact the disease, while still posing a significant impact to the community.
Closures of 4 to 8 weeks or more in length have been shown to provide meaningful results to limit the impact of COVID-19. Right now, the current situation in Texas County does not include any confirmed cases of the disease.
At this time, we are strongly encouraging you each participate in maintaining individual hygiene practices and social distancing on your own. We also acknowledge the state and CDC recommendations which ask people to avoid gatherings of 50 or more people. There are specific planning considerations which are being implemented for school considerations. Please see the governor’s recent posting explaining specific reasons why schools are not included in this CDC recommendation, available on KY3 News’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ky3news/videos/2509296185948680/. School information starts at 18:20 in the video.
We will continue to update these informational notices as new information becomes available.
TEXAS COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR CLINT SCHWARZ
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