Nassau Health Department: At least 43 test positive for COVID-19 at Levittown middle school

At least 43 students and staff have tested positive for COVID-19 at Salk Middle School in Levittown.
The Nassau County Health Department says this is the highest number of COVID-19 cases within a single school building this school year.
The students and staff who tested positive are now back to remote learning, something that parents are frustrated by.
"They just wanted to get back to normal, and it just seems like everything is starting to trend down," says Elizabeth.
According to the school, the Department of Health is allowing students who are not on official quarantine to return to school after a negative rapid COVID-19 test.
The school says parents can choose to have their children stay remote until Nov. 5.
As of Monday evening, the school said 42 students were in quarantine and 50 are doing remote learning as a precaution.
Dr. Mangala Narasimhan, a critical care doctor at Northwell, says the cases are a cause for concern because it likely means people were not following COVID-19 safety protocols.
"It means that we've let our guard down a little bit and we're not following the same strict guidelines that we were in the beginning, really wearing a mask and social distancing," Narasimhan says.
The uptick in cases at the middle school comes just as parents are about to learn if Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 is given federal approval.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisors are set to vote Tuesday. If approved, the CDC director is expected to officially recommend the vaccine and younger children could be vaccinated as soon as Wednesday.
Narasimhan says her advice for parents is to get their children vaccinated if it's approved.
"I understand and I know it's a different world when it's your children and it's scary, but I definitely think there's enough data out there for us to say that this is safe."
For now, parents tell News 12 they don't plan to make any changes to their protocols despite the recent uptick in cases at the school.
"Keep doing what we've been doing," Elizabeth says. "We wear our masks."