CDC guidelines for schools and quarantine due to COVID-19

With the school year now in full swing, teachers, students and parents are grappling with the reality of face-to-face teaching amid a pandemic.

And as delta cases of COVID-19 continue to grow, it can be difficult to gauge all of the different recommendations and advice for quarantine cases.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued guidelines on COVID-19 prevention in K-12 schools this year, including a recommendation that in-person tuition be a “priority” for students this fall.

COVID-19 in Ohio Schools: More districts are making mask compulsory, and fewer new cases are reported

CDC Guide to Exposure to COVID-19 in Schools

In schools, the CDC recommends screening tests to identify and isolate cases of COVID-19, quarantine people who may have been exposed and not fully vaccinated, and identify potential clusters to avoid risk to personal education to reduce.

If you’re fully vaccinated, the CDC says you don’t need to take screening tests or quarantine if you don’t have symptoms.

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What Ohio Recommends for Quarantine in K-12 Schools

In August, the Ohio Department of Health created a flowchart with guidelines for students or adults quarantined in K-12 classrooms after exposure to COVID-19.

In a statement on the occasion of the publication of the quarantine guidelines, Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, Chief Medical Officer of the Ohio Department of Health, said that personal learning is important for the “cognitive, social and emotional development of our children.”

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If a school has all of the following guidelines, individuals can stay in regular classroom teaching and participate in extracurricular activities and sports as long as they are free of symptoms:

• Masking or students and staff regardless of vaccination status;
• Strategies to maximize physical distance (at least 3 feet between desks); and
• Documented COVID-19 prevention policies and procedures, including identifying people with symptoms, strategies to improve ventilation, and protocols for cleaning

If the school does not have these guidelines and the close contact is vaccinated, they must wear a mask for either 14 days or until they get a negative viral PCR or antigen test three to five days after exposure. They can also stay in normal, personal classrooms and take part in after-school activities and sports, as long as they have no symptoms.

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If they test positive, they must isolate at least 10 days after the date they tested positive.

If the close contact has not been vaccinated, has not consistently w

They can return to a normal classroom and extracurricular activities after seven days if they have a negative viral PCR or antigen test for at least five days after exposure.

If they test positive, they should be isolated for at least 10 days from the date they test positive.

source https://www.bisayanews.com/2021/10/04/cdc-guidelines-for-schools-and-quarantine-due-to-covid-19/