MILTON FREEWATER — According to a new reporting system between Oregon’s health and education departments, there are six school staff or volunteers across the state currently positive for COVID-19.

One was at Ferndale Elementary School in Milton-Freewater. Illness onset was Sept. 16, data shows.

Because no students are being served on-site at Ferndale, however, health officials are classifying the positive test result as workplace-related rather than education-related.

The latest reporting protocol will encompass all public and private schools and programs, students and staff, according to officials, and be published weekly.

The metric will allow Oregonians to be aware of potential exposures to COVID-19 in schools and provides information about the spread of the virus, officials said.

Milton-Freewater Unified School District Superintendent Aaron Duff praised Umatilla County Public Health department’s swift response to the Ferndale situation, saying health workers were starting the notification and other processes within the hour after the district employee tested positive.

Because district staff is following recommended state and county safety protocols, virus exposure was “very limited” within the school building. An entry log allowed contact tracers immediate information about who had been in the building with the ill employee, Duff said.