Make sure staff and families know where to find accurate information.
Point them to our website, Washington State Department of Health and CDC.
Updated guidance:
- Infectious Disease Control Guide for School Staff—Washington Department of Health.
- What to do when you are sick with COVID-19 or another virus.
- Washington State Department of Labor & Industries guidance for preventing COVID-19.
- Resources for schools—DOH.
Everyone 6 months or older is eligible to get vaccine.
People 6 months or older can get Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. People 12 years or older can get Novavax vaccine. Find more information about COVID-19 vaccines at vaccines.gov.
Helpful tools for schools.
- Preventing transmission of SARS-CoV-2 during aerosol generating and other procedures.
- School outbreak letter.
- School outbreak letter (Spanish).
- Robocall script: Exposure from case or cases on school.
Model and encourage healthy habits.
We can all take these steps to safeguard our health.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water and for at least 20 seconds.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Cover your coughs and sneezes.
- Clean and disinfect objects and surfaces.
- Stay at home and away from others if you are sick.
- Get your COVID-19 vaccines and booster if you haven’t yet.
Emergency operations plan.
Update your plan to include information about COVID-19. You don’t need to start from scratch—you can update your plan from 2009’s H1N1 pandemic.
These tools can help shape your plan.
- Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations—FEMA.
- COVID-19 Guidance, Resources and School Closures—OSPI.
- Pandemic flu—CDC.
Contact us
Contact Whatcom County Health and Community Services at 360-778-6100- 360-778-6100 Main Call Line – available M-F 8:30am to 4:30pm.
- Afterhours Answering Service – available after 4:30pm and weekends, call 360-778-6100 and press 2 to be connected to the on-call manager or health officer.
- 360-778-6150 Communicable Disease Report Line – 24 hours a day 7 days a week
- 360-778-6103 Confidential Communicable Disease Fax – 24 hours a day 7 days a week
- 509 Girard Street, Bellingham WA 98225