COVID-19

In the event of any COVID-positive cases or close contacts, we are once again following clear procedures to best protect all within our care.

• Our procedures align to the published guidance of national and local public health departments.

• As public guidance evolves, we will adapt our isolation and quarantine procedures as necessary.

• Fortunately, this year we are able to reduce total quarantine time in some instances of close contact cases. Please see below for details.

Note the following imperatives of our procedures:

1. All individuals must remain at home when sick or experiencing any COVID-like symptoms.

2. Families are obligated to report COVID-19 diagnoses, COVID-19 symptoms or close contact cases to their school office.

3. All confirmed positive COVID-19 cases involving students or school staff are reported by school personnel to the Archdiocesan Case Management Team, who will process the case and report to the local health authorities, when applicable.

4. Students and staff must isolate or quarantine under the following circumstances:

   1. A positive COVID test

   2. Potential COVID symptoms without a test or awaiting test results

Below are the detailed isolation and quarantine procedures. If you have any questions, please contact your school office.

INDIVIDUALS WITH COVID SYMPTOMS

Individuals with COVID symptoms may not attend school while symptoms persist. A symptomatic individual is considered a positive case unless symptoms last less than 24 hours, they receive an alternative diagnosis from their doctor, or they receive a negative COVID-19 PCR test.

• If symptoms last less than 24 hours, the individual can return to school as long as they are fever-free for at least 24 hours with a 75 percent decrease in symptoms before returning to school.
• If symptoms last 24 hours or longer, the symptomatic individual can return to school after they are fever-free for 24 hours and have one of the following:
  • A negative COVID-19 PCR or Rapid test
  • An alternative diagnosis from their doctor
  • Quarantined for a full 5 days after symptoms develop and wear a mask for an additional 5 days
• If symptomatic individual subsequently receives a positive COVID-19 test result, please follow the Positive Case instructions above.

POSITIVE CASES

Any individual who tests positive for COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status, must isolate for a full 5 days regardless if symptoms are present or not and regardless if symptoms resolve before the 5 days are complete.

• For symptomatic people, Day 1 is the first full day after symptoms develop.
• For asymptomatic people, Day 1 is the first full day after the positive is administered.

If the person is asymptomatic or symptoms resolve before the fifth day, the individual must still complete the full 5 days of isolation and must wear a mask around others for 5 more days. In addition, the individual must be fever-free for 24 hours before leaving isolation. If a fever is present after 5 days, the individual must remain isolated until fever-free for 24 hours.

There is no need to test before leaving isolation. While individuals could remain COVID-positive for some time, they are no longer contagious.

CLOSE CONTACTS

Students and staff within a K–12 school that maintained a minimum of 3 feet of distance from the confirmed case while masked, or 6 feet of distance while unmasked, during an exposure are not considered close contacts and, therefore, do not need to quarantine after exposure to a positive case. Outside of the school environment, a close contact is defined as someone who was within 6 feet of a confirmed positive case, whether masked or unmasked, for at least 15 minutes cumulatively during a 24-hour period.

Do Not Need to Quarantine

• Individuals, regardless of vaccination status, who were masked at the time of close contact and maintained a minimum of 3 feet of physical distancing from the COVID-positive individual while in school are not considered close contacts and do not need to quarantine if they remain asymptomatic.
• Individuals, regardless of vaccination status, who were unmasked at the time of close contact and maintained a minimum of 6 feet of physical distancing from the COVID-positive individual while in school are not considered close contacts and do not need to quarantine if they remain asymptomatic.
• Vaccinated individuals do not need to quarantine if they are a close contact with a COVID-19 positive person. There is no need to quarantine at home as long as the vaccinated individual is not symptomatic. The vaccinated individual must wear a mask around others for 10 days after exposure. Testing is recommended 5 days after exposure OR if symptoms develop. If the individual becomes symptomatic, follow the guidelines for symptomatic individuals outlined above.
• Unvaccinated individuals do need to quarantine if they are a close contact with a COVID-19 positive person. The individual must quarantine at home for 5 days and continue to wear a mask around others for 5 more days. Testing is recommended 5 days after exposure OR if symptoms develop. If the individual becomes symptomatic, follow the guidelines for symptomatic individuals outlined above.

Need to Quarantine

• Unvaccinated individuals who were masked but did not maintain at least 3 feet of physical distancing from the COVID-positive individual in school must quarantine.
• Unvaccinated individuals that were not masked at all times while exposed to the COVID-positive individual (within 6 feet for at least 15 minutes within a 24-hour period) must quarantine.
• Once it is established that an unvaccinated individual is a close contact with a COVID-19 positive person:
  • The individual must quarantine at home for 5 days and continue to wear a mask around others for 5 more days.
  • Testing is recommended 5 days after exposure OR if symptoms develop.
• Vaccinated individuals who become symptomatic must quarantine immediately and follow the guidelines for symptomatic individuals outlined above.

Need to Quarantine – Complicated Quarantines

Unvaccinated individuals who are close contacts to COVID-positive household members, including siblings, parents, etc., are considered close contacts and must quarantine as follows:

• If the close contact CANNOT isolate from the positive case the close contact must:
  • Initially quarantine for the same 5-day period of the positive case (see Positive Cases above noting that there must be a cessation of symptoms before concluding the isolation period).
  • After completion of the initial 5-day period, the household member close contact must quarantine for an additional 5 days after the previous 5-day period (10 days in total). As long as they remain asymptomatic, they can return to school after the additional 5-day period without a test.
     

    Example: Mom tests positive and cannot isolate from her child since they live together. Mom is subject to a 5-day isolation period (per the Positive Case instructions above) during which time she is potentially contagious and could expose her child to COVID-19. A such, the child also quarantines for that 5-day period. Once the Mom’s 5-day isolation period is complete, the child would need to quarantine for an additional 5 days without a test. Therefore, the child’s total quarantine period would be 5 days + 5 days.

• If the close contact CAN isolate from the positive case then the quarantine period for the close contact is determined as outlined in the Need to Quarantine section above.

  
  Example: Mom can completely isolate from the child (e.g., by domiciling somewhere else); hence, the child is not subject to a complicated quarantine and would just be subject to a regular close contact quarantine as noted on page 2. However, please note that if other family members subsequently test positive and they have not been isolated from the close contact, then the quarantine time periods for the close contact reset and begin anew from that positive test date.