JANUARY 13 updates: Changes and updates since the original posting on Jan. 6 are noted in italics below.
As you may know, the CDC and the state and local health departments have updated their COVID-19 guidance regarding the length and stipulations for quarantine and isolation. Please take some time to read over the following summary of the revised guidelines:
For those who are exposed to someone who tests positive for COVID-19:
- Any contacts who are symptomatic, regardless of vaccination status, must quarantine for at least 5 days and should test for COVID-19.
- You will have to quarantine for 5 days if you are not fully vaccinated.
- Individuals who are fully vaccinated and asymptomatic do not have to quarantine and can continue to attend or work at school. (Individuals are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines and one month after the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.)
- However, to participate in after-school or extracurricular activities after being exposed to someone with COVID-19, students 12 and older must be fully vaccinated AND boosted. Students who have been vaccinated but have not received the booster (if eligible) cannot participate in after-school or extracurricular activities and should quarantine at home outside of school attendance.
- Fully vaccinated 5- to 11-year-old children are not eligible for a booster and have no further restrictions.
- Students older than 12 are eligible for the booster 5 months after their second dose of the vaccine.
- When contact tracing, those who have had contact with the individual 2 days or 48 hours prior to the test collection date or when the symptoms started for the positive case are considered for quarantine.
For those who test positive for COVID-19:
- Regardless of whether you have symptoms, you must isolate for at least 5 days. This begins with the onset of symptoms or the day you were tested.
- If you are asymptomatic on day 5, you can be released from isolation the following day.
- If you are symptomatic, your MILD symptoms need to be improving on day 5 for a following day release. This means:
- Fever free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medicine
- No runny nose and/or mild cough without production
- If a positive case does not meet criteria to release on day 5, the isolation end date will be extended day by day until you are eligible.
To help make these quarantine and isolation guidelines a bit easier to understand, check out these flowcharts provided by the NYS Department of Health.
Students who are placed in quarantine or isolation because of exposure or a positive test will be able to participate in remote learning. This may include live instruction, independent work or a combination of the two at the teacher’s discretion. Please note, remote learning is only available in these cases.
To begin participating in remote instruction during quarantine/isolation, you must send your official order from the health department to your child’s school nurse and/or Jennifer Sanford (sanford.jennifer@mayfieldcsd.org). Teachers are then notified and given 24 hours to either get materials prepared and/or arrange Google Meets for the affected student.
A release note from the health department is no longer required to return to school after quarantine.
Please continue to educate and encourage your child about wearing their mask properly on the bus and in school. Proper mask wearing is taken into consideration during contact tracing and can affect whether unvaccinated students are quarantined due to exposure.
Feel free to contact your child’s principal or Jennifer Sanford if you have any questions or concerns about these changes.