When can N.J. kids return to school after being exposed to COVID? It’s confusing. Here’s why. – NJ.com

In early December, many New Jersey school districts told students who came in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 to quarantine at home for 14 days. By mid month, it was lowered to 10 days, or seven if you had a negative test.

Then, as students returned to school this month, both the federal government and New Jersey’s health department lowered their recommended school quarantines to five days in most cases.

Except, some New Jersey school districts are not following that guidance or are making up their own rules.

Confused? So are many parents.

As many New Jersey schools reopen for in-person classes after the latest COVID surge, families and school officials are grappling with the rapidly changing recommendations for when students can return to the classroom if they have had COVID or were close to someone who tested positive.

Here’s the latest:

When can students who tested positive for COVID-19 return to school?

New state Department of Health guidelines sent to school officials Wednesday say New Jersey schools should require students and school staff who test positive or show signs of COVID to say home for at least five full days after the onset of symptoms or five days after they received a positive test.

They can return to school on Day 6 if they have no symptoms or if their symptoms are resolving, the new guidance says.

Once they return to school, they should wear a mask both indoors and outdoors for days 6 through 10.

If these are the state guidelines, why does my school district have different rules?

The state’s new guidelines — which are similar to recommendations for schools released by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month — are just guidelines.

Though most of New Jersey’s nearly 600 public school districts follow the state’s health recommendations, they are not required to comply. Some districts are sticking with the earlier guidelines that recommended 10 or 14 day quarantines for students and teachers who test positive.

Other districts are ignoring the state’s guidelines and coming up with their own rules.

Private schools, Catholic schools, yeshivas, prep schools and other education institutions are also free to follow the state’s K-12 guidelines or craft their own quarantine policies.

When can students exposed to COVID at home or in the classroom return to school?

Students, teachers and school staff who were in close contact — meaning they spent at least 15 minutes within three feet of someone who tested positive or showed signs of COVID — but are not sick themselves should also stay home from school for at least five days, according to the state’s new recommendations.

They should get tested and if they are negative and still have no symptoms, they can return to school on Day 6. They should continue to wear a mask at school inside and outside on days 6 though 10, the guidelines say.

But, school districts are also not required to follow the state’s recommendation for a five day quarantine for people exposed to COVID. Some districts are requiring more days out of the classroom. And the school board in at least one school district, Middletown in Monmouth County, voted last month to drop all quarantine requirements for close contacts of people who test positive for COVID.

Do you still need to quarantine if you’re vaccinated?

Everyone who tests positive for COVID should quarantine, whether they are vaccinated or not, the state guidelines say.

But students and school staff who come in close contact with someone with COVID do not need to quarantine for five days if they have all of their recommended vaccines and boosters, according to the new state recommendations.

So, adults age 18 and older exposed to someone with COVID do not need to stay home from school if they have received a full course of vaccine doses and a booster, the guidelines say. And students ages 5 to 17 who were in close contact with someone with COVID do not need to quarantine if they have completed the recommended vaccine shots for their age.

Do these recommended rules apply to daycare facilities?

No, the new state guidelines shortening the recommended quarantines only apply to New Jersey’s K-12 schools.

How do you count a five day quarantine? What counts as Day 1?

Under New Jersey’s health guidelines for schools, people who are quarantining for five days should consider the day they first experienced symptoms as Day 0. Then, they should count five full days from that day as Days 1 through Day 5 of their quarantine.

So, if students develop a cough on a Tuesday, Day 1 of their five day quarantine would start Wednesday. Day 5 would fall on Sunday. And they could return to school Monday, if they were symptom free or their symptoms were resolving, according to the state’s guidance.

If a person tests positive for COVID, but has no symptoms, the day the test was performed should be considered Day 0, state officials said. Then, they should count five full days from that day as Day 1 through Day 5 of their five day quarantine.

Students and school staff quarantining because they were exposed to someone with COVID should count the last day they had close contact with the infected person as Day 0, then spent five additional days at home, the guidelines say.

Does it matter if your COVID test is a PCR, antigen, at-home test or one administered by a healthcare professional?

No, the state guidelines on school quarantines do not recommend any specific type of test.

Five days seems really short for a quarantine. Why did health officials pick that number?

“The shortened timeframes for isolation and quarantine focus on the period when a person is most infectious,” state Department of Health officials said in their announcement of the new school guidelines.

The CDC also began recommending shorter five day quarantines, followed by five days wearing a mask, last month for members of the general public who test positive for COVID.

“The change is motivated by science demonstrating that the majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the 1-2 days prior to onset of symptoms and the 2-3 days after,” the CDC’s alert said.

Not everyone agrees schools should reduce quarantines from 10 days to the 5 days recommended by the state.

“This will cause further stress on our system by helping the omicron virus to further propagate,” said Stanley Weiss, an epidemiologist at Rutgers School of Public Health and Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.

Can students returning from a quarantine go back to playing sports and participating in band and other extracurriculars?

If school districts are following the new guidance from the state, students who had COVID and returned to school after five days should be limited on Days 6 through 10 to participating in only the extracurricular activities where a mask can be worn “consistently and correctly.”

That means they should not go back to playing sports or playing in a band without a mask for the week after they return from quarantine.

Can students returning from quarantine eat lunch with classmates?

Students returning to school after a quarantine should be kept an “adequate distance” from classmates when eating or taking off their masks on Days 6 through 10, according to the state’s guidelines. But the recommendations do not say exactly how far away students should eat from classmates.

“Time without mask being worn should be kept to minimum possible,” the guidelines say.

Can students who have not tested positive go to school if they have mild or borderline symptoms, like a headache or a sore throat?

Parents should not send students to school if they have one of these symptoms: cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing or a change in what they can smell or taste, the state guidelines say.

Students should also stay home from school if they have two of the these symptoms: fever, chills, shivers, muscle aches, headache, sore throat, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, congestion or runny nose, the state recommendations say.

Are there exceptions to the quarantine recommendations?

The new guidelines calling for five day school quarantines do not apply to everyone. Students who can’t wear a mask at school for medical reasons should still quarantine at home for at least 10 days, the recommendations say.

The CDC also recommends a 10 to 20 day quarantine for people who are severely ill with COVID or have a weakened immune system.

Also, New Jersey schools participating in the new “test and stay” pilot program can allow students and staff exposed to COVID to skip quarantines if they are tested regularly before entering the classroom, the state’s guidelines say.

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Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com.