Students asked to self-report COVID-19 symptoms

To reduce the chance of a coronavirus outbreak, Libby Middle High School administrators have instituted a daily wellness check for students.

The check, which involves self-reporting symptoms on a questionnaire each morning, is meant to serve as an aha moment for students who might have contracted the virus, according to Vice Principal Jim Germany.

Speaking at a Dec. 14 school board meeting, Germany said the paper slips students fill out help them distinguish the difference between major and minor symptoms of the virus.

Using information gathered from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the school district defines major symptoms as unexplained coughs, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, and a new loss of taste or smell. Minor symptoms include temperatures greater than 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, muscle or body aches, headaches, sore throat, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea fatigue and congestion or a runny nose.

Since the school started the wellness checks following Thanksgiving, 14 students have self-reported symptoms. Germany said he would sit down with any students who said they were feeling under the weather to determine if their symptoms were legitimate.

“Kids may have asthma or some other stuff that’s causing it,” he told board members.

While the wellness check system might seem like an enticing loophole for students looking to skip school, Germany said he could usually differentiate between those who were sick and those who were hoping to play hooky.

If a student’s symptoms seemed genuine, Germany said they might be sent to the school nurse to receive an antigen test. In November, Superintendent Ron Goodman said the district received 120 Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 tests from the state. These rapid nasal swab tests return results within 15 minutes allowing school staff to quickly gauge a student’s condition.

The tests, however, are limited. If the test comes up negative, it does not mean a student isn’t infected with the virus.

So far, no students who have taken the antigen swaps have tested positive. If a test were to come back positive, Germany said the student would receive a more accurate test administered by local health officials.

Germany said that while he and Goodman were both trained to administer the test, they would only step in if the school nurse was swamped.

Out of the 14 students who self-reported symptoms, Germany said 12 were sent home. Those students were allowed to stay away from school until their symptoms were gone for 24 to 48 hours.

“We’ve had a couple come through that had some major [symptoms] with loss of taste and smell and it raised the red flag,” said Germany.

At the time of the school board meeting, Ruth Vanworth-Rogers, middle high school principal, said three students and two staff members were in quarantine. She expected the staff members to return to the school on Dec. 17.

New policies instituted by the county health department have made managing quarantines easier for the school district. Previously, health officials asked residents who came in close contact with someone who had tested positive for the virus to quarantine for 14 days. Following updated guidelines from the CDC, officials now say close contacts can end their quarantines on the eighth day if they show no symptoms and tested negative after day four.

At Libby Elementary School, Principal Andrew Stieger said that the school had four staff members and 11 students quarantined. Sixty-eight elementary students were on remote learning schedules as of Dec. 14.

Both the Libby Middle High School and Libby Elementary School closed in late November after an increasing number of students tested positive or became symptomatic. While Goodman said health officials were unsure if the virus was spreading within the buildings, he decided to switch the district to a remote schedule to ensure the safety of students and staff.

The elementary school and the middle high school reopened classrooms on Nov. 30.