“The more you do the better,” Superintendent Lou Moore said. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)

[This post has been updated with additional information from the superintendent.]

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank Regional High will remain closed for a second day Wednesday as it continues an “deep cleaning” to address concerns about the COVID-19 coronavirus, Superintendent Lou Moore said Tuesday.

In a posting on the RBR website, Moore linked the continued closure to the “to the identified case of COVID 19 in Little Silver.”

On Monday, Moore said that one of RBR’s students is a sibling of the 27-year-old borough man reported to be presumptively infected with the virus.

The additional day’s closure will “allow for continued deep cleaning of the building and to provide health officials with time to evaluate the situation,” he said in the announcement.

Asked if the cleaning proved to be a bigger job than expected, Moore told redbankgreen it did not.

“We will continue to treat all surfaces, touch-points, computer keyboards,” he said by email. “Under these circumstances, the more you do the better. The extra [day] will allow us to continue with this effort and also give Monmouth Health Commission time to evaluate the situation.”

In addition, Moore wrote that the school had cancelled all extracurricular activities and practices as well as scrimmages on Friday or Saturday. SAT administration scheduled for Saturday has also been cancelled.

Moore said an “internet access survey” will be sent to student emails. Its purpose, Moore said, “is to update our data on who has access to the internet from home.  This is important if we need to implement a virtual school program in the event of longer closing.”

“In the event that the school closure continues for an extended period of time, we have created an emergency virtual instructional plan,” Moore added. “This plan will be shared with you when and if it becomes necessary.”