Quarantine Protocols

  • Local public health authorities determine and establish the quarantine options for their jurisdictions.

  • Students and staff should stay home if they have:

      • Tested positive (viral test) for COVID-19

      • COVID-19 compatible symptoms

      • Potential exposure to COVID-19 from: Close contact with a person with COVID-19 in the past 14 days

      • Engaged in domestic and/or international travel in the past 10 days (unless fully vaccinated)

  • Siblings of a student who has symptoms and meets COVID-19 Exclusion Criteria should be excluded from school until the symptomatic individual receives a negative test result.

      • If the symptomatic individual tests positive, the sibling will need to self-quarantine.

  • The Central East region is currently in a moderate (yellow) activity level, therefore exposed close contacts should be excluded from school for 10 days. (or 7 days with negative test results collected at 5-7 days).

  • Contact the school nurse to find out when it is safe to return to school.

Contact Tracing

  • A close contact is defined as being within 6 feet of someone with suspected or known COVID-19 for 15 or more minutes during a 24-hour period.

  • School nurses collaborate with staff members and/or coaches to identify potential close contacts to a COVID-19 case.

  • In the school setting, excluded individuals who are close contacts of staff or students who tested positive for COVID-19 may be considered for a reduced exclusion period based on Regional Risk Levels:

      • High (orange) exposed close contacts should be excluded from school for 14 days.

      • Moderate or Low (yellow or green) exposed close contacts should be excluded from school for 10 days. (or 7 days with negative test results collected at 5-7 days).

      • Schools serving medically complex or other high-risk individuals should use a 14-day exclusion period for the exclusion of these individuals or those who work closely with them when identified as close contacts throughout all risk levels.

Quarantine or Isolation: What's the Difference?

Quarantine keeps someone who might have been exposed to the virus away from others

Isolation keeps someone who is infected with the virus away from others, even in their home