SYLACAUGA, Ala. – Sylacauga Mayor Jim Heigl met with many city leaders Friday to discuss the threat of Coronavirus.
Sylacauga City Schools Superintendent Dr. Jon Segars, Margaret Morton of SAFE, CVMC COO Amy Price, CVMC Chief Business Development Officer Vanessa Green and CVMC Disease Preventionist Jeff Wood attended the meeting.
Segars said the school system has already eliminated all assemblies and field trips while athletic events will continue although he believes those will eventually be limuted as well.
“Right now I do not see any school closings,” Segars said. “I have not heard of any public school superintendent placing their schools under those conditions. We do anticipate that to be the case, possibly, and right now we are preparing for that. Our number one concern is for the safety of our students, employees and our community.”
“If a case COVID-19 is confirmed in our school community, we will cooperate with the Alabama Department of Public Health and State Department of Education to close facilities as needed until safe to return. Given the circumstances, there is no formula for how to handle make-up days. Public education in the state of Alabama is based on 1080 hours of instructional time per year, not necessarily the number of school days. If school closures occur, we will make all attempts to complete the school year within our published schedule while satisfying all academic standards for each grade level.”
Segars said the school system is still planning to provide meal services if schools close.
Coosa Valley Medical Center is preparing as much as it can as this time according to hospital officials. “What we are trying to focus on is what we can control,” said Amy Price. “That allows ourselves to focus on ‘what could be’ while safely exploring different alternatives.”
The hospital has now closed its 85-bed nursing home to all visitors as people over 70 are at high risk. At this time, CVMC is not conducting COVID-19 testing.
CVMC offered tips such as washing hands for 20 seconds, avoiding sick people, avoid touching your face and using alcohol based hand sanitizers.
Leaders said all information is subject to change depending on the severity of a possible outbreak in the city and state.
