Foothill latest Shasta County high school to announce COVID-19 case

A person at Foothill High School in Palo Cedro has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a letter dated Tuesday and sent to parents by Principal Steve Abbott.

The letter did not identify whether the person is a student or on the school's staff.

Abbott's letter says fewer than five people came in close contact with the person who tested positive. Those five individuals have been told to stay home.

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The last incidence of the "known exposure" was last Thursday, the letter says.

Foothill High's COVID-19 case comes a day after University Preparatory School in Redding announced a case of its own.

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As a result, U-Prep started a transition to distance learniing Tuesday that will last for 14 days. U-Prep students will resume in-person instruction and athletic workouts on Oct. 5.

Foothill's Abbott says the high school will continue to operate in-person instruction, "in accordance with Public Health guidance."

Abbott asks that parents monitor their students for COVID-19 and keep them home if they experience symptoms, such as fever, chills, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, sore throat, cough, new loss of taste or smell, nasal congestion or runny nose, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. 

RELATED: U-Prep suspends in-person classes for 14 days after someone tests positive for COVID-19

Parents are asked to contact their child's doctor if he or she develops COVID-19 symptoms and determine whether they should be tested.

Since mid-August when school started, the Health and Human Services Agency said Monday afternoon that 19 students and five school staff members from various Shasta County schools had tested positive for COVID-19. That announcement was made before Foothill and U-Prep officials publicly confirmed their virus cases.

Mike Chapman is a reporter and photographer for the Record Searchlight in Redding, Calif. His newspaper career spans Yreka and Eureka in Northern California and Bellingham, Wash. Follow him on Twitter @mikechapman_RS. Subscribe today!