According to the new guidance, students and staff infected with COVID-19 will no longer be automatically required to quarantine for five days. It was published this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC still recommends it. People with coronavirus should stay away from school or work for at least one full day and be fever-free for at least 24 hours after their symptoms improve. The CDC continues to advise infected people to wash their hands, wear a mask, and, if possible, maintain physical distance from others for at least five days.
According to CDC Director Mandy Cohen, the agency changed its recommendations because 98% of Americans now have at least partial COVID immunity and there are more effective treatments for the disease.
This guidance integrates prevention strategies for three common respiratory illnesses that are on the rise in schools: COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). We plan to issue additional guidance for schools by the end of the school year, including strategies to control the spread of other diseases such as norovirus and strep throat.
CDC continues to urge people to get vaccinated, practice good hygiene, and install up-to-date indoor air quality systems.
“The bottom line is that if people follow these actionable recommendations to prevent them from getting sick and to protect themselves and others if they do get sick, they will help limit the spread of the respiratory virus, which will prevent anyone from experiencing serious illness. This means that there is less. “Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases, said in a statement. The center focuses on research and monitoring for diseases such as COVID-19 and the flu.
As coronavirus outbreaks become less frequent and schools continue to work to help students recover academically from the education lost during the pandemic, most school districts are implementing most of the policies enacted during the pandemic, including mask wearing and mandatory quarantines. Or, all quarantine rules have been rolled back. In a nationally representative survey In January, the EdWeek Research Center found that more than 6 in 10 educators said they never wear masks in school, and only 3% said they wear them almost every day.
“I don’t think this will be a big change for most schools,” said Kate King, president of the National Association of School Nurses.
King, a school nurse at World Language Middle School in Columbus, Ohio, said her school still provides free masks and allows parents to keep their children home if they are sick, but COVID-related absences are considered parent-exempt rather than medically excused. He said he would consider it. Doctor's opinion.
But the pandemic has led to lasting behavioral changes in schools that could help reduce outbreaks. King said all kinds of things.
“[The pandemic] There has been a huge increase in awareness of hand washing and what we call ‘respiratory etiquette’ (coughing and sneezing into your elbow instead of your hand, using hand sanitizer, washing your hands),” King said. “I saw both students and staff wearing masks when they were unwell, had a cold, or had a runny nose. So I don’t think it’s huge, but I think there’s more awareness.”
Vaccination remains a priority
The CDC also urges schools to do more to encourage students and staff to be up-to-date with immunizations for the flu, COVID-19, and, when available, the new RSV vaccine.
Flu and coronavirus vaccination rates among school-age children decreased in the 2023-24 season. More than half of children and adolescents have received the flu vaccine. This season, it's down from 53% last season and nearly 60% before the 2020 pandemic. Corona vaccination rates are much lower. About a third of children ages 5 to 11 and nearly 60% of children ages 12 to 17 have received their initial two doses. Only about 13% of school-age children will be enrolled before the end of the 2022-23 school year. It received an updated booster in 2023-24.
King said school-based vaccination efforts have continued since the pandemic. “As school nurses, our real focus is the vaccine clinics located in schools,” she said. “We know that’s the key to preventing all these diseases. And the school is the best place. Parents trust the school. “I don’t have to miss work, the kids are already here.”