FAQ

The Board of Health will be advising the School Committee on decisions regarding whether it is safe for school to be open or whether school (or any individual schools) should be teaching remotely. Their decision criteria were published in this document. The information on this site collects the required data to facilitate Board of Health review of COVID prevalence measures.

All data for state and local cases is drawn from Mass.gov reports. They are available via this link. Data for Wayland school cases comes from the Wayland School Department.

The Health Department will work with Administration and staff to identify close contacts. The Health Department will contact those identified close contacts by phone. The Superintendent or his designee will send a letter to families and staff who share a classroom with a confirmed case and will also inform the school that there is a confirmed case. If there is a confirmed case and the District is unable to identify close contacts in a timely manner, such as after a large social gathering, the District may need to close a building for a period of time to identify those close contacts.

The following protocol for responding to COVID-19 scenarios is available online here

Self-isolation for COVID-19 positive cases is a minimum of 10 days

Most people who test positive and have a relatively mild illness will need to stay in self-isolation for at least 10 days. People who test positive can resume public activities after 10 days and once they have:

a. gone for 24 hours without a fever (and without taking fever-reducing medications like Tylenol); and

b. experienced improvement in other symptoms (for example, their cough has gotten much better); and

c. received clearance from public health authority contact tracers (the local board of health or Community Tracing Collaborative).

Repeat testing prior to return is not recommended. Return to school should be based on time and symptom resolution.

Close contacts of a positive COVID-19 case should be tested. For general guidance, DPH defines close contact as:^[1]

• Being within 6 feet of COVID-19 case (someone who has tested positive) for at least 10-15 minutes. Close contact can occur while caring for, living with, visiting, or sharing a healthcare waiting area or room with a COVID-19 case while the case was symptomatic or within 2 days before symptom onset, OR

• Having direct contact with infectious secretions of a COVID-19 case (e.g., being coughed on) while not wearing recommended personal protective equipment.
  

If someone in the school setting tests positive

If a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, their close contacts will be defined as only those who have been within 6 feet of distance of the individual for at least fifteen minutes, while the person was infectious. The infectious period begins 2 days prior to symptom onset. If someone is asymptomatic, the infectious period is considered to begin 2 days prior to the collection of their positive test. While previous guidance stated that all students in an elementary classroom would be defined as close contacts, this new guidance provides a narrower definition of a close contact which mirrors DPH guidance.

Policy of when a close contact may return to school

All close contacts should be tested but must self-quarantine for 14 days after the last exposure to the person who tested positive, regardless of test result. After further consultation with the medical community, we are updating this guidance as the virus can cause illness from 2-14 days after exposure and even asymptomatic individuals can transmit the virus. Going forward, even if an individual identified as a close contact receives a negative test result, they must continue to self-quarantine for the full 14 days as the virus may take up to 14 days to cause illness.

Policy of when a student/staff person may return to school after COVID-19 symptoms

• If a student or staff member has COVID-19-like symptoms, they may return to school after they have tested negative for COVID-19, have improvement in symptoms, and have been without fever for at least 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications. If a provider makes an alternative diagnosis for the COVID-19-like symptoms, the individual may return to school based on the recommendations for that alternative diagnosis (e.g., influenza or strep pharyngitis).

• If a student or staff member presents COVID-19-like symptoms and chooses not to be tested, they may return to school 10 days from start of symptoms, as long as their symptoms have improved and they have been without fever for at least 24 hours prior to their return to school without the use of fever reducing medication.

^[1] https://www.mass.gov/info-details/about-covid-19-testing#what-are-the-symptoms-of-covid-19?-

See this document which explains the definition of close contact, as well as how contact tracing works.

Please send your website suggestions to Kim Reichelt