FRYEBURG — Fryeburg Academy has suspended all after-school activities and athletics after the Maine Department of Education downgraded Oxford County to yellow Friday on its three-color coded system concerning the threat for COVID-19.
The state downgraded the county following an outbreak at ND Paper mill in Rumford, where more than 20 people have tested positive for the coronavirus and one employee died.
York is the only other Maine county that has a yellow designation.
According to the DOE, the change was made because of the “rapid and significant increases of COVID-19 prevalence.” The rate of increase per 10,000 residents for the past two weeks has risen from 4.66 cases to 10.69 — a larger increase than York County.
Fryeburg Academy had already been using a hybrid model for education, with Wednesdays set aside for remote learning. That model will not change with the yellow designation.
Under the coding system, green means the county has a low risk for the virus; yellow means there’s an elevated risk; red means there’s a high risk.
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