{"id":1861,"date":"2020-03-02T15:48:06","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T20:48:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/macdons\/?p=1861"},"modified":"2020-03-02T15:48:08","modified_gmt":"2020-03-02T20:48:08","slug":"1861","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/macdons\/2020\/03\/02\/1861\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Coronavirus Letter from Superintendent<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/howard.dearbornschools.org\/2020\/03\/02\/coronavirus-letter-from-superintendent\/\">March 2, 2020<\/a>&nbsp;by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/howard.dearbornschools.org\/author\/jumaan\/\">Nathal Jumaa<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Greetings Dearborn Community,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Typically, national and world events are only a<br>small part of our daily dialogue but on occasion they can grow to a point where<br>they consume and dominate our conversation. This is the current status<br>regarding the discussions taking place about COVID-19, or more commonly known<br>as the coronavirus.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the Michigan Department of Health<br>and Human Services, as of February 28, 2020 there were five people tested in<br>the state of Michigan (3-Washtenaw,<br>1-Macomb, 1-Oakland) for the&nbsp; COVID-19<br>(coronavirus) and fortunately results showed that none of the five tested had<br>the virus.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many news stories, articles, and<br>websites providing information about this new strain of the flu virus and it is<br>vitally important for all of us to keep focused on accurate information.<br>Several articles indicate that more people may be infected by this virus but<br>there are no forecasts on how many, where, or for how long this will<br>continue.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As state, county, and local government agencies<br>begin to formulate plans to address the possibility of a potential widespread<br>outbreak, our administrative team has also been monitoring developments related<br>to COVID-19 (coronavirus). We have been in contact with a variety of<br>educational organizations such as the Michigan Department of Education, Wayne<br>RESA (our local Intermediate School District), Michigan Association of School<br>Administrators (MASA), and others in developing protocols and procedures that<br>would aid in preparing our district in the event of a widespread outbreak in our<br>community.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are also closely following the medical<br>recommendations from health care professionals such as the U.S. Center for<br>Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Michigan Department of Health, and<br>the Wayne County Health Department. These sources remain the best place for the<br>most accurate information regarding COVID-19 (coronavirus).&nbsp; We are also<br>very fortunate to have nurses on our staff who have a professional relationship<br>with these organizations and can provide us with timely information.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the CDC has not yet provided formal<br>guidance for schools on how to prepare for a potential community outbreak, the<br>State of Michigan, Wayne County Health Department and other local health<br>departments have emergency preparedness systems ready to be activated if an<br>outbreak occurs in Michigan. Our own staff has been in contact with the City of<br>Dearborn\u2019s Emergency Manager to ensure we are able to coordinate efforts if<br>needed. Also, we are talking with our cleaning supply vendors in order to make<br>sure we are using recommended products and methods to keep schools clean and<br>safe.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we have done in the past, when other flu<br>related illness was a concern, it is important to remind everyone that the CDC<br>recommends following these simple but very effective methods to limit the<br>spread of respiratory diseases:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Always thoroughly wash hands for at least 20 seconds.<\/li><li>When soap and water is not available, use hand<br>sanitizer to wash hands.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or cloth when<br>sneezing and\/or coughing.<\/li><li>Stay home when you are sick. (This is a good habit to<br>follow for any illness but even more important given the unknowns<br>surrounding&nbsp; COVID-19)<\/li><li>CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a<br>facemask to protect themselves from respiratory diseases, including<br>COVID-19.<\/li><li>Facemasks should be used by people who show symptoms of<br>COVID-19 to help prevent the spread of the disease to others.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are planning to travel overseas it is<br>important to stay up to date on any travel advisories issued by the federal<br>government and consider postponing travel in areas of concern.&nbsp; Additional<br>information is available on the Michigan Department of Health and Human<br>Services website including a downloadable fact sheet in English and Arabic.<br>Information is also available on the CDC website.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CDC COVID-19 Info<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/communication\/factsheets.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CDC Fact Sheets<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/mdhhs\/0,5885,7-339-71550_5104_97675---,00.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">MDHHS COVID-19 Info<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The spread of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) is a<br>serious topic that needs to be closely monitored and requires all of us to stay<br>informed.&nbsp; We all need to show restraint in sharing any unsubstantiated<br>reports on social media or other internet outlets. Creating unnecessary panic<br>by spreading rumors will only create more fear in our community.&nbsp; Our<br>schools, our city, and our community will need to continue to stay informed as<br>we work together to keep all of us safe and healthy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regards,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ci6.googleusercontent.com\/proxy\/_MiwloYr4HEQk4KcZQ6bsXkO-RjISgTpi_9ouSq14QDHcw3mhL7TEkUJlV3wD71KH0CnOwXgY28di12Fc5f5IPA9r3jz1IaaPtOfZYurWmYZqI969d3_35RcJyf46dzchzyZJQ0FPbHXFkr7ADQgrjGp-EYbW5gfTKA=s0-d-e1-ft#https:\/\/superintendent.dearbornschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1270\/2020\/02\/Glenns-Signature-1.jpg\" alt=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/cJiS2kiCJYksupv9zfqpznDSYqwONtYQ5VBSWxxerkxpcyAw2TqsmYowDbtX8MtUlmo5vih02q26GG0OJaSnhgxcIw1aoyCGhzRThtEWAziaToAWdHLFW-o9l3SjvO_peTw3c1n1\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Glenn M. Maleyko, Ph.D.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Coronavirus Letter from Superintendent March 2, 2020&nbsp;by&nbsp;Nathal Jumaa Greetings Dearborn Community, Typically, national and world events are only asmall part of our daily dialogue but on occasion they can grow to a point wherethey consume and dominate our conversation. This is the current statusregarding the discussions taking place about COVID-19, or more commonly knownas the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-class-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/macdons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/macdons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/macdons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/macdons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/macdons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1861"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/macdons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1862,"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/macdons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1861\/revisions\/1862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/macdons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/macdons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iblog.dearbornschools.org\/macdons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}