Update to CDC Guidance on Quarantine

December 3, 2020 Communications Team Administrator News, EdUpdate 0

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a statement providing new options for quarantine for people who have had close contact with COVID-positive individuals. The CDC is providing this information for public health agencies to use in setting quarantine periods in their communities. We know CDC’s guidance on the quarantine period has been a top issue among state education agencies. We are providing a link and summary to this updated guidance below for your information, and encourage you to work with your state health officials on how this updated guidance impacts the guidance you are offering to schools in your state.

While the CDC currently recommends a quarantine period of 14 days, new information and observations from across the country and around the globe have shown that local health authorities may have other options to shorten quarantine times. The full statement is available here, and below is a summary of this information:

  1. Contacts of persons with COVID-19 should monitor themselves daily for presence of these symptoms of COVID-19 and should contact their healthcare provider if they develop symptoms.
    1. Most people have mild illness and are able to recover at home.
    2. Individuals should seek immediate treatment if they have emergency warning signs, including trouble breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, new confusion, inability to wake or stay awake, or bluish lips or face.
  2. Quarantine can end after Day 10 of exposure without testing and if no symptoms have been reported during daily monitoring.
  3. Where COVID testing is readily available, then quarantine can end after Day 7 if the individual tests negative and if no symptoms were reported during daily monitoring.
    1. The CDC recommends a COVID test on or after Day 5 after exposure, and for the individual to quarantine until at least Day 7.
  4. In both cases, continued symptom monitoring and masking through Day 14 are highly recommended.
  5. The safest scenario is still to quarantine for 14 days, as this option is most effective in reducing the risk of transmission.