MADISON, Wisconsin (WMTV) – Health officials say an outbreak of COVID-19 at a Dane County daycare center was caused in part by families with children from different classrooms who became mutually infected.
Health officials first reported the outbreak on April 5, originally saying 21 children and workers tested positive for the virus, in addition to 14 family members of students or daycare workers who tested positive for COVID -19. On Friday, Madison and Dane County Public Health updated that four more family members of these children or workers have tested positive for the virus.
PHMDC noted that two factors played an important role in classroom outbreak-crossover and COVID-19 variants.
PHMDC explained that families had several children in different classrooms, meaning that one person in a class was initially infected and then the virus would spread at home to family members in another classroom. The person would then extend to the classroom where the student attended or where the employee worked.
Health officials warned that siblings of students who test positive should stay home until they meet public health criteria to return. Students may return when they have been fever-free for 24 hours, the other symptoms have improved, and at least ten days have passed since the symptoms began.
PHMDC said, however, that the contagious variant B.1.1.7 makes it difficult to capture COVID-19 quickly because this variant spreads more quickly and easily than the original COVID-19 strain. The CDC recently reported that this variant, which is first in circulation in the United Kingdom, is the most important variant currently in the United States.
PHMDC urged families to monitor all symptoms, noting that many of the children’s symptoms were mild. Families should also not assume that their child’s symptoms come from a cold or allergies, and health officials stressed the importance of children being tested for the virus.
Dane County had previously reported on April 9 that they had cases of COVID-19 in children under 16 increase significantly during the last month.
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