While we have known since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that young children and teenagers are less susceptible to the virus than older individuals, keeping COVID-19 out of schools has remained a vital objective – both to prevent students from spreading the virus to others who are more vulnerable and to protect the minority of children and teens who do experience severe symptoms.
In this effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19 inside of schools, a wide range of guidelines and mandates have been issued. Now, the CDC has recently released an updated set of COVID-19 prevention guidelines for K-12 schools. In this article, we’ll explore what these new guidelines entail, including how they aim to protect school students and faculty as well as the impact they might have on schools across the country.
Unpacking the Latest Updates the CDC’s Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention
Despite the fact that they were last updated January 13 and have been updated numerous time prior, much has remained the same in the CDC’s guidance for COVID-19 prevention in K-12 schools, including the fact that these guidelines continue to promote vaccination as the leading public health prevention strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that they still recommend that all students, staff, teachers, and visitors to K-12 schools continue to wear masks indoors regardless of their vaccination status.
The only substantial update to these guidelines aside from an update to the CDC’s screening testing recommendation for K-12 schools is that the CDC has now reduced the recommended time for isolation and quarantine periods to five days. Previously, the CDC’s guidance for K-12 schools recommended at least 10-days of isolation for individuals who tested positive for the virus, with the first day of symptoms counting as day zero. Recommended quarantine for those who are not fully vaccinated and have been exposed to the virus has now been reduced to five days as well, with the day of known exposure counting as day zero. For those who are fully vaccinated and are exposed to the virus, quarantine is not required as long as they are not showing any symptoms.
In a summary of these recent changes, the CDC clarified that the reduction in recommended quarantine and isolation periods was put in place in order to “allow time for students to catch up with the latest recommendations and to minimize disruption to in-person learning”.
This latest update also brings the CDC’s guidance for COVID-19 prevention in K-12 schools in alignment with CDC’s recently updated Covid-19 quarantine and isolation guidelines for the general public, which were the first to reduce recommended quarantine and isolation periods down to five days.
For students, teachers, and parents alike who are still navigating all of the complexities and disruptions that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to our education system, these reduced quarantine and isolation periods are sure to come as a relief now that the CDC has concluded that five days of quarantine/isolation is enough to ensure the safety of others inside the school. In order to continue safely engaging in in-person learning, though, it will remain essential for K-12 schools to continue following these procedures as well as all of the other recommendations in the CDC’s guidance for K-12 schools.
How Bikham Healthcare Empowers Those on the Front Lines of the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a terror on our society in far more ways than one. If not for the fearless dedication of healthcare professionals around the world, though, it undoubtedly would have been far worse. At Bikham Healthcare, we are proud to partner with these dedicated healthcare professionals in order to provide them with the resources and assistance they need to continue providing the best possible care to their patients during these demanding times. By working with healthcare facilities across the country to provide services such as revenue cycle management, provider credentialing, and provider enrollment, Bikham Healthcare is working to reduce the administrative burden of healthcare professionals so that they are free to focus on caring for their patients and growing their practice. If you would like to learn more about any of the industry-leading services that we offer at Bikham Healthcare, be sure to contact us today.