HANCOCK — In his weekly Hancock Public Schools update, Superintendent Steve Patchin on Friday said he wanted to alert people that “one of our education team has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. As you know, privacy laws protect the individual by not allowing them to be public identified. We will continue to follow this policy with our team and students.”

Patchin said the schools’ protocols, include notifying those who work in their areas of the positive test result, then follow up with immediate deep cleaning of areas they had been operating in, with a follow-up deep cleaning the next day. This is in addition to daily cleaning protocols.

Anyone exposed to someone testing positive for COVID-19 has the option of calling Upper Great Lakes Clinics, Patchin stated. Protocols must then be followed. The UPGL clinics are located at the Gates Tennis Center on the campus of Michigan Technological University, and people can call the clinics at (884)947-4854 to request testing.

“Unfortunately, health care professionals tell us this will not be the last time this occurs in our community due to the nature of the virus,” Patchin advised. “Policies we are developing to return to school will involve steps to limit risk to exposure to the virus, but will also include responding to those that contract the virus, an important part of our plan. We are working with local health care leadership to collaboratively develop protocols, including testing, to help successfully navigate our reopening.

“We will work through this together,” he continued. “We will continue to communicate with you in a consistent and transparent manner. As we create these new processes, we ask for your patience. We gain new information about the virus, new processes to limit its spread, and how to balance health needs with education needs on a daily basis. We will have successes and miss steps as we move forward, learn, and adapt. We will be successful if we all work together.”