One of the nurses is on call in the evenings and on the weekends. If your child has been absent from school due to illness or quarantine, or has been sent home from school due to illness, you must obtain approval from the nurse before your child can return to campus. In order to obtain approval, please contact the health office via email with an update on your child’s condition the day before you would like them to return, and one of the nurses will be in touch. Our nurses will not be able to clear you if you email them the morning you expect your child to return – it is likely they won’t see the email in time. ONLY THE SCHOOL NURSES OR THE DIRECTOR CAN CLEAR CHILDREN TO RETURN TO SCHOOL IF THEY WERE OUT FOR ANY TYPE OF ILLNESS RELATED REASON.
The Preschool is following the latest Georgia Department of Public Health Guidance, coupled with the CDC guidance, regarding the Return to School Strategy, which is determined based on a person’s health status (dated July 22, 2020).
Symptomatic persons with confirmed COVID-19 or suspected COVID-19 who had mild or moderate illness can return to school or childcare after:
• At least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared (first day of symptoms is day 0) AND
• At least 24 hours have passed since last fever without the use of fever-reducing medications AND
• Symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath) have improved
Symptomatic persons with confirmed COVID-19 or suspected COVID-19 who had severe to critical illness (if they were hospitalized for shortness of breath, pneumonia, low oxygen levels, respiratory failure, septic shock, and/or multiple organ failure) can return to school or childcare after:
• At least 20 days have passed since symptoms first appeared AND
• At least 24 hours have passed since last fever without the use of fever-reducing medications AND
• Symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath) have improved
Asymptomatic persons with confirmed COVID-19 who are not severely immunocompromised can return to school or childcare after:
• At least 10 days have passed since the positive laboratory test and the person remains asymptomatic (day 0 is test day)
Asymptomatic persons with confirmed COVID-19 who are severely immunocompromised can return to school or childcare after:
• At least 10 days have passed since the positive laboratory test and the person remains asymptomatic (day 0 is test day)
Note, asymptomatic persons who test positive and later develop symptoms should follow the guidance for symptomatic persons above.
Asymptomatic persons or those with negative COVID-19 testing who HAVE KNOWN EXPOSURE to a person with COVID-19 can return to school or childcare after:
• They complete the recommended time period of quarantine of 14 days, with last date of exposure being day 0.
• Of note, if this person is tested for COVID-19 during the 14-day quarantine period, a negative test result would not change or decrease the time a person is quarantined.
• Currently The Preschool continues to follow the 14-day quarantine period, which is noted to be THE SAFEST option by CDC and DPH. The requirements of socially distancing and masking in order to shorten a quarantine are not feasible in our young student population at this time
https://dph.georgia.gov/contactBoth CDC and DPH DO NOT recommend using a test-based strategy for children or adults returning to school or childcare (2 negative tests at least 24 hours apart) after COVID-19 infection. ‡ CDC has reported prolonged PCR positive test results without evidence of infectiousness for up to 12 weeks.
Please note: If a household member tests positive for COVID-19, all individuals living in the household will be required to quarantine for 14 days after their LAST contact with the infected family member. If the ill household member is not able to fully isolate from the rest of the family, the quarantine period for well family members is 24 days (10 days of isolation for ill individual + 14 days of quarantine for remainder of the family).