CDC Updates Quarantine Guidelines For K-12 Schools

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its COVID-19 quarantine and isolation guidance for K-12 schools Thursday, aligning the recommendations with the agency's guidelines for the general public. It also expands its recommendations for screening testing, and urges canceling or going virtual with some extracurricular and sports activities in order to protect in-person learning. Those who are infected or have symptoms of COVID-19 must isolate regardless of vaccination status, the agency said in the new guidelines. Students, teachers, and staff can end isolation after five days after their initial positive test or the onset of symptoms, or if they are fever-free for 24 hours without using fever-reducing medication and their symptoms have improved. If students, teachers, or staff who are infected still have a fever or if their symptoms haven’t improved after five days, the CDC recommends staying in isolation until they are fever-free, without using fever-reducing medicine, and other symptoms have improved. “Many people with COVID-19, especially children and teens, don’t have symptoms but can still spread the virus, so regular testing helps find people who have the virus before it can spread to others,” the agency said on its website. “Finding who has the virus early means steps can be taken to prevent COVID-19 from spreading and causing an outbreak, so schools can stay open.