Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are taking steps to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus. 

While no cases of the illness, designated COVID-19 by public health officials, have been reported in Minnesota, the archdiocese’s Office for the Mission of Catholic Education issued advice to elementary and high schools March 3. The advice includes urging school officials to review health guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Minnesota Health Department.

Currently, state health officials in Minnesota are recommending well-established procedures for preventing the spread of any virus: staying home when sick, covering coughs and washing hands.

In a letter to Catholic school leaders, which included weblinks to updates on COVID-19 by the CDC and MDH, Jason Slattery, director of the education office, said schools can take several steps immediately without raising undue alarm. 

They include:

• Review school emergency preparedness plans with a focus on infectious diseases. The OCME can provide resources for schools that need them.

• Implement handwashing campaigns to increase awareness and improve observance.

• Review and remind faculty, staff and community members of the school’s norms for when to stay home with an illness and what procedures the school follows in sending sick children home from school.

• Clarify internal procedures of monitoring student and faculty absenteeism.

• Explore options for increasing school cleaning practices with an emphasis on cleaning common spaces and common surfaces.

“As you know well in your work in schools, it is important when faced with issues like COVID-19, that school leaders take informed steps that we can together take that will help prepare for the possibility of COVID-19, while also having the dual effect of helping limit the spread of influenza and other infectious diseases schools face every day,” Slattery said in the letter.

He said his office would continue to monitor the situation and keep school officials informed.