Sierra Wave News has received information from concerned parents of students in the Eastern Sierra Unified School District in Coleville and Bridgeport. Just yesterday, Sierra Wave reported on the over-the-air news and online at sierrawave.net. Our article, 60 Positive COVID-19 cases reported at Marine Mountain Warfare Training Center), on Mono County s’ Health Department, Nov. 3rd press release, “confirmed that, to date, no cases among school children have been identified,” and that “Currently, there is no evidence that the outbreak at the MCMWTC has contributed to increased community transmission outside of the Marine Corps community in Mono County, despite some increase in unassociated cases.” But is that true? And will it remain true? There appears to be some validity to the concerns of children being potentially exposed to COVID-19 being expressed by some parents in the towns of Coleville, Walker, and Bridgeport.
Reportedly the numbers of positive COVID-19 have exploded at the Marine Mountain Warfare Training Center to well over one hundred cases over the past several weeks (since October 21) and appears to continue to climb. There is also information that has been brought to the attention of Sierra Wave from sources familiar with the camp that there may be more to this story. Some are questioning the lack of safety protocols being practiced by the camp to prevent the contagion, and others have claimed a cavalier attitude of camp commander towards the pandemic protocols, which only invited just what happened at the camp, and contributed to its rapid spread among the troops.
Sierra Wave News reached out to ESUSD Superintendent, Heidi Torix, regarding the rumor that a student in the district may have tested positive for the Covid-19 virus, which is contrary to what was said in Mono Health Department’s press release.
This is the superintendent’s response:
“Hi Charles. I was notified by the health department that there is a concerning case (1) at Antelope Elementary School. We immediately made the decision to close the school for in-seat instruction due to possible exposure to students and staff in that cohort. Because of sibling connections, I decided to close Coleville High School and Bridgeport Elementary School (Bridgeport high school students attend CHS). Closing the high school and BES was a precautionary decision, not a direct order from the health department. We have no reason to believe there is a great spread of the virus, but the safety of our students and staff always comes first. I would also like to clarify that this closure has no relation to the cases on the military base. We are hopeful that we will be re-opening after the Thanksgiving break. Let me know if you’d like further information.“–Heidi Torix, Superintendent, ESUSD
Sierra Wave News will continue to monitor this situation and keep our readers and listeners informed of any changes. If you would like to share any information that you might have on this or any story, please send an email to Sierra Wave News, Attn. News Director Charles James, at [email protected], or call or send a text at (760) 920-4991.
I would like to know, how many people have been hospitalized. That’s the number we should care about. This virus will always be with us, we need to learn to live with it. Meaning, people that might actually end up in the hospital because of the Rona, stay home and… Read more »
https://public.tableau.com/views/COVID-19HospitalsDashboard/Hospitals?:embed=y&:showVizHome=no
@Stacy Corless, Perhaps Sierra Wave could not get leadership at the MWTC to give an interview. I called Lt. Col Adrian Arnold wanting to get an interview and he has yet to get back to me. SO many questions that need to be answered about this ‘outbreak’. @Eastern Sierra Resident.… Read more »
Sierra did reach out to the Marine media contact. The information provided us from a Mono County Supervisor came from the MCMWTC’s executive officer who wrote: “Media inquiries should be directed to the Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command Strategic Communications office. The Point of Contact is Captain Nichole… Read more »
You have no idea what you’re talking about. First: there are numerous articles confirming asymptomatic spread of Covid. Here are abstracts from just two: First, “Temporal dynamics in viral shedding and transmissibility of COVID-19” He X, Lau EHY, Wu P, Deng X, Wang J, Hao X, Lau YC, Wong JY,… Read more »
@Stop non-essential Travel, I am suprised to see someone respond to my comment here. So I see you kind of broke down some of my statements and tried to provide some studies to back up why you think I have no idea what I am talking about. Interesting that you… Read more »
Dear William, That whooshing sound was my entire point flying way over your head. Here – let me walk you through it. I know it can be real hard to read and understand when you have your own thoughts you’d rather think but maybe if you sit still for a… Read more »
I just heard that high school football will be starting up soon….I’m so dismayed to hear this. Look what happened in college football, lots of players testing positive and coaches. That is the last thing I want to see in our communities!
It seems quite irresponsible of Sierra Wave to editorialize about this without interviewing Mountain Warfare Training Center leaders. I’d encourage all those interested to hear from MWTC leaders directly by watching the 11/5 Mono County/Town of Mammoth Lakes Community Conversation–there is an update from MWTC toward the beginning.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoSw-TkZvWo
I watched the video. Some members of this group were left behind because of positive tests but they did not test anyone who was not symptomatic before shipping the rest of the group out here to Pickle Meadows. Hello? Asymptomatic spread is not new news! So there was an “official”… Read more »