NORWAY — It should come as a surprise to exactly no one that Oxford Hills is being rocked by the coronavirus.
Last Friday state officials changed from the green designation Oxford County has maintained for most of the fall back down to yellow, meaning the Maine Department of Education recommends that schools revert to hybrid learning. One can make many assumptions about the trends and consequences.
According to Maine Center for Disease Control spokesman Robert Long, the sharp rise in the county can in part be explained by an out break at Pinnacle Health in Canton, a skilled nursing facility where an outbreak has resulted a total of 56 cases of the virus as of last Sunday; 42 residents and 14 staff. According to its website, the facility has 47 beds. An ambulance was in the parking lot late Sunday afternoon, its red lights flashing.
A second outbreak has also been reported at ND Paper Mill in Rumford, a location where workers from many different communities congregate.
COVID-19 statistics for Oxford County, according to data released by the Maine CDC on Monday.
But those cases are only part of the story. Like many regions throughout Maine, Oxford Hills has also been hit hard by COVID-19 over the last several weeks. In Norway, where Guy E. Rowe School had to close for more than two weeks, cases have almost tripled since Nov. 15, from 11 to 30.
Between March and August, reported cases in Oxford County averaged fewer than one a day, with no reported deaths.
In November, the daily average jumped to just under 6 cases a day.
In the first week of December, daily average cases of COVID-19 stands at 20 per day, with two deaths. Since September, five people have died in Oxford County with COVID-19.
In Harrison (Cumberland County), Oxford and South Paris, reported cases have doubled. The same assumption may be made for Waterford. In that town the case count “range” was between 1-5 confirmed and probable. As of the CDC’s Monday update, the range is currently listed at 6-19 cases.
Well before Friday’s announcement that Oxford County had been downgraded to yellow, students of SAD 17 have been bounced around between in person and remote learning. A few days after Rowe School was closed, Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School went from hybrid to remote education and Paris Elementary School went from in person to remote as well due to detected outbreaks in those schools. Over in Oxford, the elementary school had to close not because it exceeded the threshold to be closed, but because so many educators had to quarantine after exposure to one positive staff member that there weren’t enough available teachers to hold class.
Last Wednesday evening, parents of Agnes Gray Elementary School in West Paris were notified by Principal Beth Clarke that classes would go remote after a probable case was reported.
“This decision [to close] was not mandated by the CDC,” read the message from Clarke. “We are responding cautiously with the safety of our children and staff at the forefront of our minds.”
School was cancelled last Thursday as staff prepared lesson plans and packets and devices for pick up.
And as of Dec. 7, one of Oxford Hills Middle School’s 7th grade pods transition to remote learning because of a shortage of available teachers.
The Maine Principals’ Association has not cancelled the winter sports season but has updated its guidelines. SAD 17 Athletic Director Keven Ryan was set to talk about anticipated adjustments to school sports to the School Board at its Monday night meeting, but with many residents in Oxford Hills’ towns without power or internet following last weekend’s snowstorm, Ryan’s presentation has been postponed until Dec. 14.
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