An East Bay high school is dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak after the school says a number of students attended an off-campus gathering.
The Las Lomas High School principal confirms that 21 students have tested positive over the past three weeks. Another 100 have been told to quarantine.
Health officials say some of the students attended a party at a private home in mid-April, leading to the outbreak.
"It apparently was a single event," Contra Costa County Supervisor Candace Andersen said. "That’s what our contact tracing is showing, and, unfortunately, they weren’t following those precautions that should have been followed."
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The school said there doesn’t appear to have been any on-campus transmission.
"Teenagers, at least, have the idea that they’re invincible," Las Lomas parent David Coffman said. "If I were to draw an analogy, I’d say it’s similar to a teenager that is driving well over the speed limit because they’re invincible."
Coffman said the outbreak is troubling. He’s grateful his 17-year-old daughter opted to continue with distance learning for the rest of the school year. But she had to go on campus this week to take her AP exams.
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"She was more than a little bit nervous," Coffman said. "She was very, very concerned about attending the AP test."
Health officials said it’s a tough lesson for the children. They hope families recognize the need to get their children vaccinated and not to let their guard down just yet.
"Until we have more of the population vaccinated, this is not the time to be gathering with unvaccinated, unrelated households," Andersen said. "I know how hard the pandemic has been, how much everyone just wants to get back to normal. Now is not the time."
