Zia Middle School employee tests positive for COVID-19

MESILLA - Las Cruces Public Schools reported Monday that an 11th employee has tested positive for COVID-19. 

A staffer assigned to Zia Middle School in Mesilla was notified they had tested positive Monday afternoon, leading to an immediate closure of the site for sanitizing. 

In a news release, the district said the school was expected to reopen on Thursday.

The announcement came approximately one week after two employees, one at Hermosa Heights Elementary and the other at Mesa Middle School in Las Cruces, tested positive for the disease, caused by the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. 

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At least 8 of the district's 11 employees who tested positive have since tested negative and been cleared to return to work, according to the district. 

Las Cruces public schools have been offering remote instruction, relying heavily on online learning, since March, after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a public health emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic. Some teachers opt to teach from their classrooms, and school sites are also open for some non-teaching staff. 

Beginning on Labor Day, school districts and charters with state-approved action plans, in counties meeting certain public health criteria, were permitted to resume face-to-face instruction for younger students. However, the Las Cruces school board voted in September to stick with remote learning through December. 

The state Public Education Department has reported 172 total cases in 88 public schools statewide since Aug. 17. 124 of the cases involved staff members and the remaining 48 were students.  

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The department announced 12 news cases at New Mexico schools were identified in the last 72 hours, not including Zia Middle School case as it was identified Monday afternoon. 

The state has seen an increase in transmission since Labor Day weekend. The New Mexico Department of Health announced 143 new cases of COVID-19 statewide on Monday, bringing the total cases identified in New Mexico to 28,985. Out of 909,505 tests documented by the DOH, 3.2 percent have been positive, with 16,422 or 56.7 percent designated as recovered. 

A total of 873 deaths associated with the disease were documented as of Monday. 

Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonWrites on Twitter.