PUSD hires medical COVID-19 specialist

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PAGE – As part of its effort to safely return to in-person learning, the Page Unified School District has hired Peter Jones as its Medical Covid-19 Specialist.

Jones will head the district’s COVID Response Team and coordinate the efforts of each schools’ COVID Response Team. In addition, he will work with state, county and local health organizations to bring new information and guidelines to the district and he’ll report back to the health agencies any COVID-related occurrences in the district.

Jones says one of his main objectives is to maintain trust and transparency with Page families and community. “If anyone on campus – student, teacher or staff—tests positive for COVID-19, we will immediately communicate this with all our stakeholders,” Jones said.

One of Jones’ primary responsibilities is conducting checks to ensure that the schools and the COVID Response Teams are practicing the safety and mitigation protocols.

Jones analyzes COVID case numbers occurring in Page, in the county, the state and the Navajo Reservation on a daily basis.

“The idea is to keep everyone informed and up to date,” Jones said, adding that he and the COVID Response Teams will be pro-active and do all they can to prevent COVID from arriving at our schools. “The one action that will help us the most is good parental involvement,” he said. “If your kid is displaying symptoms, please keep them home for a while until they can be checked.”

Jones is confident that if the community takes necessary precautions, the community can prevent any large COVID outbreaks from reaching PUSD schools. “We’re all in this together,” he said. “Let’s work together and help each other out. It’s up to us to prevent the spread of this virus.”

Jones, a native of Galveston, Texas, has lived in Page for four years. He is employed as a physical therapist assistant at Lake Powell Physical Therapy, and at Zion’s Way. He is married to Page native, Lynny Pearce Jones. They have two kids, ages 4 and 2.

Jones first came Page in 2007 while serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “It was then that I first got to know the area,” he said. “I loved it here then, and still do.”

Jones first met his wife during his mission. Years later, they connected on Facebook and he met with her at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and because of their prior acquaintance, they made an easy connection, said Jones.

Jones earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise science and physiology. He’s licensed to practice physical therapy in Utah and Arizona.

After graduating from BYU, Jones and his family moved to San Antonio. It was not a good fit, Jones recalls. “The congestion of the city was pretty terrible. What should have been a 20-minute drive took an hour.  That’s when we took a longer look at Page. Both my wife and I like Page’s small-town feel and its strong community bond. I really like the friendly, supportive nature of Page.”

Jones and his family are involved with their church, and Lynny is also active in a mother’s group.