Poplar Bluff Senior Banquet attendee tests positive for coronavirus

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — An attendee of the Poplar Bluff High School Senior Banquet on Thursday has tested positive for COVID-19, according to the district and county health officials.

The school district notified those in attendance with an email early Friday night after being contacted by the Butler County Health Department, which was investigating a previous positive test for the virus.

The individual who attended the Senior Banquet did not show signs of symptoms and was only tested because they had contact with an infected person, the email states. A positive test result for the attendee came back positive Friday and they are in self-isolation.

Superintendent Scott Dill said the prom, scheduled for Saturday night, and Tuesday’s graduation ceremony were to be held as scheduled.

“We advise everyone to take those precautionary measures,” Dill said. “We don’t require face masks to events, but I think everyone knows that they’re strongly recommended.

“Obviously maintain social distancing to the best of your ability, simple hand washing precautions, all of those things that we’ve heard since the beginning, still apply.”

The Butler County Health Department said in a statement Saturday it had completed contact tracing and alerted anyone who needed to self-isolate.

“Per the CDC guidelines most who were in attendance need to wait 72 hours to be tested,” the statement read. “Onset of symptoms is thought to be three days to 14 days.”

The health department is offering free COVID-19 testing to any Missouri resident during regular business hours.

Dill said the case that started the contact tracing was from outside the school and the individual who attended the Senior Banquet was not aware or had symptoms of being infected with the virus.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, including older adults or people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The majority of people recover. Some people with the virus are asymptomatic and do not show any signs they are infected but they can still spread it.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing a cloth face covering in public settings.

Face coverings were not required to attend the prom or graduation.

“While we encourage and understand the value, we cannot provide those masks so for us to require them becomes an impossibility for the school district,” Dill said.

Dill said if the postponed end-of-year events were not mandatory he would probably feel differently about holding them. If families or students elect not to attend out of an abundance of caution the district “will respect that and honor them to the best of our ability,” he said.