BEDFORD COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — The Bedford Area School District released information and data regarding potential COVID-19 cases.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the school district says that they want transparency about current active situations in an effort to help mitigate the spread and confidently support the school’s mission to offer face to face education.

The school district also stated that their approach to mitigating the spread of COVID-19 is both “aggressive and conservative”.

We will aggressively investigate potential cases in an effort to fully understand any potential spread. We ask everyone to work with our contact tracers to help us protect students, staff, and the community. Also, we sincerely ask all members of the educational community who have a questionable situation to call first before sending students to school.

Additionally, we will make conservative decisions to protect students such as beginning a quarantine to be safe rather than a wait and see approach. We would rather respond quickly to a potential case and err on the side of caution.

Statement from the Bedford Area School District

Data released by the school district outlines the specific numbers of cases based on the following criteria:

Definitions of Active Cases
• Active Positive Case is someone who has a positive Covid-19 test and is currently in quarantine.
• Active Close Contact is a person who has been within 6 feet of an active positive case, whether masked or unmasked, for 15 minutes or more and is currently in quarantine.
• Active Suspected Case is an individual who is experiencing Covid-19 symptoms and is seeking medical attention and is currently in quarantine.
• Active Suspected Close Contact is a person who has been within 6 feet of an active suspected case, whether masked or unmasked, for 15 minutes or more and is currently in quarantine.

Current Active Covid-19 Case Data as of 8/31/20
Please note the information in this chart consists of active cases as defined above currently involved in the district’s mitigation effort. This is not a cumulative total.