COVID-19 case confirmed at Bigfork Middle School

A student at Bigfork Middle School has tested positive for the coronavirus, Superintendent Matt Jensen told parents in an email sent out Thursday afternoon. The school has made contact with parents of students who were determined to have had close contact with the infected person. A close contact is someone who has been within six feet of the infected person for more than 15 minutes.

“Since the intent of contact tracing and quarantine is to mitigate possible additional spread, we started the process immediately,” Jensen wrote in the email. “... Our close contact lists are generated by our seating assignments and will be reviewed by health officials. However, due to the very active workload at the Flathead County Health Department, we decided not to wait for their initial review.”

Notice of the positive COVID-19 test was received by the school at 11:30 a.m. Thursday morning, according to the email.

This latest COVID case comes on the heels of Bigfork High School reporting one student with COVID-19 on Wednesday.

Bigfork Schools continue to remain open at this time. For more information on the school’s COVID-19 mitigation efforts and plans, visit www.bigforkschools.org/covid19-resources/#krh or contact the district office at (406) 837-7400.

The district has made a number of changes to ensure student safety for the fall semester including pre-entry screenings, organizing different entrances to the school for each grade level, limiting mixing of students in the classroom and additional cleaning and sanitation practices.