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Rangeley school going to remote-only for two days

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RANGELEY – Rangeley Lakes Regional School students will participate in remote learning Thursday and Friday this week, after individuals associated with the school were found to be in close contact with people that had tested positive for COVID-19.

In a letter posted to the Regional School Unit 78’s Facebook page, school staff indicated that the decision to run a fully-remote program Thursday and Friday, as well as suspending all extracurricular events until Monday, Nov. 9, had been made out of an abundance of caution. Earlier this week, Mt. Blue High School also went to two days of remote-only learning, after reporting a second positive test on Monday. Students returned to the school Wednesday.

Maine Center for Disease Control reported the 149th and 150th COVID-19-related deaths in the state Wednesday, including a woman in her 80s that lived in Franklin County. The state also reported four new Franklin County cases and a total of 151 new cases statewide Wednesday, including 36 hospitalized individuals, 12 of which are in the ICU. Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah noted that was up from 31 hospitalizations yesterday, and up from seven patients two weeks ago. The hospitalization rate was 2.7 hospitalizations per 100,000 Mainers, Shah said, with the national average currently sitting at roughly 14 per 100,000.

Franklin Community Health Network President Trampas Hutches said in an update released Wednesday that FCHN had nine cases of COVID-19 among its staff, up from the four cases reported late last week. The affected employees were now in isolation, Hutches said. He went on to urge the wearing of masks in indoor settings and to be cautious about holding gatherings with friends and extended family.

Signs and symptoms of the respiratory illness include fever, coughing, new loss of taste or smell, fatigue and shortness of breath, among others. Public health officials have advised wearing face coverings, avoiding touching the eyes and face and practicing good hand hygiene.

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