COVID-19 cases reported in the Bridgehampton, Southampton, Westhampton Beach, East Quogue, and Riverhead School districts meant building closures for some, and close monitoring for others this week. With Bridgehampton and East Quogue reporting their first cases since school opened, that means 11 of the 16 South Fork public school districts spanning the distance from Montauk to Eastport-South Manor have seen cases of coronavirus.
Bridgehampton Superintendent Robert Hauser sent voice messages to school community members Tuesday, October 27, alerting them to a pending school closure that afternoon. Notified that morning that a student in the elementary school had tested positive, the district decided, out of an abundance of caution, to send students and staff home. By Tuesday evening, families were advised that 10 students and 10 staff members would be required to proactively self-quarantine. School opened as usual on Wednesday.
The Westhampton Beach School District was notified on Thursday, October 22, that a student at the Middle School had tested positive for COVID-19. The student was last in school on Wednesday, October 21. District buildings remained open on Friday, with the students and staff who were in contact with the infected individual directed to quarantine.
It was the second reported case of coronavirus in the school district. The first case, at the high school, was reported just after school began in September.
As of October 27, the Suffolk County case tracker listed 188 cases in the Westhampton area, including the Village of Westhampton Beach, since the pandemic began.
East Quogue Elementary School fifth graders did not have in-person instruction on Friday, October 23. In a message to families, Superintendent Robert Long announced that a staff member had tested positive for COVID-19 and the district’s two fifth-grade classes would work remotely, pending the outcome of an investigation by the Suffolk County Department of Health.
It was the first reported case in the school community. According to the Suffolk County case tracker, as of October 27, there have been 74 cases in the East Quogue hamlet since March.
Southampton High School was closed to in-person instruction on Friday, October 23, following notification that a staff member tested positive for coronavirus. High School students followed a full remote program on Friday, as did all high school instructional staff members.
It was the second case reported in the district. The state “report card” erroneously attributes an earlier case at a private school to the district. Encompassing areas of North Sea, Tuckahoe, and Southampton Village, the county case tracker lists a total of 229 cases of coronavirus in the area since March.
With several employees in the district’s transportation department testing positive for COVID-19, the Riverhead School District will not have in-person classes until November 4, officials said Sunday. The cases were initially announced last Thursday, October 22. Quarantining of the department’s staff, meant the district was unable to get students to school.
Previous cases in the Riverhead School district include two at Aquebogue Elementary School, two at the high school, and one at the middle school.
The county case tracker lists over 850 cases in the Town of Riverhead since record keeping began.
