3 covid cases spur Serra Catholic High to close before spring break

Serra Catholic High School in McKeesport shut down two days before spring break after officials learned of a third covid-19 case linked to someone at the campus in two weeks.

Officials did not say whether the newly confirmed coronavirus cases involved teachers, students or other staff members or people affiliated with the school.

“As we have seen the positive cases increase around Allegheny County, we also unfortunately have begun to see an uptick in cases at Serra as well,” Bob Childs, the school’s associate principal, said in a statement. “Serra Catholic remains determined to do whatever is necessary to slow the spread of this disease and to keep our students, teachers, staff members and families as safe as possible.”

On Friday, Allegheny and Westmoreland counties reported their highest totals of covid-19 cases in more than two months. Allegheny reported 586 more cases, its highest since 670 cases on Jan. 13. Westmoreland reported 166 new cases, its most since Jan. 20.

Serra Catholic’s students will switch to strictly virtual classes, then continue with spring break through Monday, April 5.

Serra Catholic also closed in November, shortly before the Thanksgiving break, in response to three covid cases linked to people affiliated with the school confirmed within a three-day period.

Like in November, diocesan officials said in a news release that this week’s decision to close the Serra Catholic campus and switch to remote learning was made “in an abundance of caution and in compliance with health guidelines.”

The closure also applies to all extracurricular and athletic activities.

Students are scheduled to return to the campus for in-person classes on Tuesday, April 6, following the Easter break.

School officials have notified parents and caregivers of the changes and will continue to keep them notified with any updates.

Recent weeks have shown a 20% to 30% increase in cases statewide, which is not as severe of as spikes observed in November and December.

And though cases are rising, covid-related death rates in Pennsylvania are falling. In the past week, the state reported 226 deaths. More than 25,000 people in Pennsylvania have died of covid-19 since last March, state health data show.