LOA Staff and Families~

Welcome Back.....Thanksgiving Break flew by!!!

I hope that you and your family enjoyed some rest and fun!!

A few helpful tips from the Mayo Clinic: 

It may seem as though school-age children frequently get sick, especially during certain times each year. 

Your child(ren)'s immune systems are put to the test. Children in large group settings tend to quickly spread organisms that cause illness.

Viruses cause many common childhood illnesses. All it takes is for one child to bring a virus to school for the spread of illness to begin.

The power of hand-washing

What's the best way to keep your children healthy in school? Frequent hand-washing is the simplest, most effective way to stay healthy.

Remind your children to wash their hands when doing these activities:

• Before eating a meal or snack

• After going to the bathroom

• After coughing, sneezing or blowing their nose

• After playing outside.

Children should soap up their hands for as long as it takes to sing the "Happy Birthday" song twice through, or at least 20 seconds.

Coughing Etiquette: 

• Coughing into a tissue or napkin

• Coughing into your elbow, never into your hand

Other Helpful tips: 

• Remind children to keep their hands away from their eyes and out of their mouths because hands often are covered in germs.

• Teach children to not share water bottles, food or other personal items. Use this simple rule: If you put the item in your mouth, keep it to yourself.

It's also important for your children to eat a healthy diet, get plenty of sleep and stay current on their vaccinations to help fend off illness-causing organisms.  Keep your children at home if they have symptoms, including fever, cough, sore throat or rashes.

A few policy reminders: 

• Students must stay home if fever is present (100.4), they may return if at least 24 hours have passed since their last fever, without the use of fever reducing medication.

• Students must stay home if vomiting and/or diarrhea. They may return 24 hours after their last episode. 

If you have any questions please refer to the Lake Oconee website under the resource tab > school clinic. I have linked it here for your convenience: school clinic.  All resources are available here.  Please don't hesitate to reach out to me if needed :) 

I am so thankful for LOA and our staff, our students, and families!! I hope you each had a wonderful and healthy Thanksgiving!!

—

Our local health department will now have a kiosk providing COVID and Flu PCR testing kits. 

Please see below regarding the new kiosk from the DPH:

The Northeast Health District is now offering COVID and influenza PCR testing at
kiosks at five locations throughout the district. These kiosks offer access to testing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
After completing a brief registration form, the kiosks dispense two test kits – one kit is for COVID testing and the other is for influenza (types A and B). The test kits include a nasal swab and instructions on collecting the specimens. Nasal swabs must be done for each test. Once the specimens are collected, they are safely packaged back into the kits and placed in the kiosk. The specimens are picked up daily and sent to an accredited lab for PCR testing. Individuals will receive notification of their test results by email or text, usually within 48 hours of specimen collection.

Pre-registration for testing at the kiosks is not required but is available at
https://register.testandgo.com/. 

There is no out-of-pocket cost for the tests provided through a DPH kiosk, but for individuals with insurance, their insurance will be billed.

For more information about these kiosks, visit: https://northeasthealthdistrict.org/resources/covid-19-testing/

COVID and influenza testing are among the many prevention measures that protect you and others by reducing the chances of spreading illness. Vaccination and good respiratory hygiene also help prevent the spread of respiratory illnesses like COVID and flu:

• Frequent and thorough handwashing with soap and warm water. Alcohol-based gels are the next best thing if you don’t have access to soap and water.

• Cough or sneeze into the crook of your elbow or arm to help prevent spread of germs.

• Avoid touching your face as germs can get into the body through mucus membranes of the nose, mouth and eyes.

• Stay home from work or school if you’re sick.

For more information about COVID and influenza visit https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19 or https://dph.georgia.gov/flu.

Kind regards,

Jessica Tolbert, RN

Lake Oconee Academy School Nurse