Lake County General Health District (LCGHD) and Geauga County Public Health (GPH) issued updated school quarantine guidelines on October 22, 2021. “The ultimate goal is for students and teachers to stay in an in‐person educational environment while minimizing the spread of the COVID‐19 virus,” stated LCGHD Health Commissioner Ron Graham. To that end, LCGHD and GPH are suggesting the following recommendations for isolation and quarantine to local school districts in their jurisdictions, while the schools continue to seek advice from their legal counsel:
Isolation Recommendation:
- If a student is experiencing cough with or without shortness of breath, nasal congestion or runny nose, sore throat, body aches and chills, fever over 100.4 F, or vomiting/diarrhea that could be due to COVID‐19 infection, the student should stay home from school and seek medical attention for possible COVID‐19 testing, and directions for care.
- If a student has tested positive for COVID‐19 and is having symptoms, the student should stay isolated from others for 10 days following onset of symptoms. If the student is asymptomatic but has tested positive, the student should stay isolated from others for 10 days following the date of the test.
- If a student who is asymptomatic AND has not been a close contact (having been closer than six feet, for at least 10 minutes total time within a 24-hour period) tests positive with an at-home rapid test that does not come with a telehealth visit, they should reach out to their doctor or other test providers to get an additional test before returning to school.
Quarantine Recommendation:
- If a student is notified that they have been in close contact with a person who tested positive for COVID‐19 virus, they can continue to attend school if they are closely monitoring for symptoms and are vigilant about mask wearing for the 14 days following exposure. They should switch to isolation protocol if they start to experience any symptoms.
- If the student or parent feels the mask wearing cannot be done reliably, the student should remain at home.
Recent data from Lake and Geauga counties demonstrates that the rate of infection in quarantined students is lower than 5%. In the event of an outbreak, the health department will continue to work with the local school district to determine the most appropriate action at that time based, in part, on the number of cases and the degree of potential spread given other prevention measures in place.
