St. Charles student's relative on infected nurse's plane had no direct contact, no symptoms

BOARDMAN

The relative of a St. Charles School student who was on the same flight as the latest person diagnosed with the Ebola virus lives in a separate residence and has no symptoms, according to the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, Office of Catholic Schools.

The school learned Thursday that the relative was on the same Oct. 10 Dallas-to-Cleveland Frontier flight as Amber Vinson, the nurse who tested positive this week for the virus. Vinson had treated Thomas Eric Duncan, a patient at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, where he died.

The school opened as usual Friday.

Mary Fiala, Diocese assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said the Diocese and the school consulted with both the Ohio Department of Health and the Mahoning County District Board of Health.

“They told us there was no need to exclude students from our school at this point or to close the school,” she said.

There were some absences Friday although it’s difficult to know which of those were due to parents keeping their children home out of ebola fears and which are due to other illnesses, Fiala said. Mahoning County public schools weren’t in session Friday because of teacher training which also may have contributed to absences.

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