Level Green Elementary closes for 5 days after 3 staffers test positive for the coronavirus

Level Green Elementary School is closing for five days after three staff members tested positive for the coronavirus in 14 days, according to Penn-Trafford School District Superintendent Matt Harris.

The school will be closed from Thursday through Monday.

District employees were notified Wednesday of the additional positive tests after one case was reported on Sunday, Harris said in a message sent to parents. Students have been attending school in person this week after contact tracing determined no other students or employees needed to quarantine, he said.

Students will get remote instruction during the closure and the school building will be sanitized and disinfected, Harris said. The state department of health is working on contact tracing. Only those who have been contacted by state officials or the school nurse need to quarantine, he said.

Penn-Trafford students returned to school Aug. 27 in a hybrid format.

Students in grades K-8 are attending school in person with the first seven Fridays of the year off. High school students have been split into two groups, each attending school on alternate days and having online instruction the rest of the time.

Students can opt into full online learning. A district staff member tested positive for the virus in mid-August.

As of Wednesday, Westmoreland County has seen 2,134 positive and 143 probable cases of the virus since March, according to state health department data. More than 42,000 cases have been negative.

There have been 56 deaths in the county attributed to the virus as of Wednesday, about half of which have occurred in nursing home patients, according to the state data.

Statewide, there has been 158,976 positive and probable cases of the virus with 1.8 million negative tests. The death toll totals 8,142. The state estimates that 82% of people who tested positive have recovered.