LA County offers modified COVID-19 quarantine option for students

School districts successful Los Angeles County tin present connection a modified quarantine enactment to definite unvaccinated students who were exposed to a affirmative COVID-19 case, frankincense allowing them to proceed attending classes successful idiosyncratic nether definite circumstances, the county’s main nationalist wellness serviceman announced connected Thursday, Sept. 16.

The modified quarantine argumentation would lone use erstwhile the pupil who was exposed and the infected pupil were some wearing masks astatine the clip of the vulnerability and the adjacent contacts aren’t portion of an outbreak situation.

“After reviewing 4 weeks worthy of information related to cases, adjacent contacts and outbreaks astatine school, … we consciousness comfy that with comparatively debased transmission astatine schools, it’s due to connection schools a modified quarantine enactment for K-12 students exposed to COVID astatine schools nether definite circumstances,” region Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said.

The exposed pupil indispensable beryllium asymptomatic passim the modified quarantine play and stay location but erstwhile astatine schoolhouse for world instruction, she said. The pupil won’t beryllium allowed to enactment successful extracurricular activities, a spokesperson for the section aboriginal confirmed.

While nether a modified quarantine, a pupil indispensable deterioration a disguise indoors, outdoors and connected a schoolhouse bus. (The pupil would lone beryllium permitted to instrumentality disconnected their disguise portion eating oregon drinking but indispensable stay 6 feet distant from others, and, ideally, they would devour oregon portion outdoors.)

Students nether a modified quarantine besides indispensable acquisition coronavirus investigating doubly a week, with the archetypal trial occurring 1 to 2 days aft exposure. If the 2nd trial is conducted 5 days oregon aboriginal aft the vulnerability and the effect is negative, that pupil tin extremity their quarantine aft the seventh day.

School districts are not required to follow the modified quarantine rules and tin elite to spell by a much restrictive policy.

The argumentation besides lone applies to students, not teachers, due to the fact that the extremity is to minimize disruptions to their education, Ferrer said.

A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Unified School District, known for mounting immoderate of the highest wellness and information standards passim the pandemic, did not person an contiguous reply erstwhile asked if the territory would entertain a modified quarantine argumentation for unvaccinated students.

Fully vaccinated students who are asymptomatic already bash not request to quarantine nether region guidelines, though they should self-monitor for symptoms for 14 days.

For weeks, the county’s nationalist wellness section had been asked astir modifying its pupil quarantine argumentation arsenic the fig of students — and unit members — successful adjacent interaction to a COVID-19-positive idiosyncratic rose.

Between Aug. 15 and Sept. 13, erstwhile galore students returned to schoolhouse for autumn semester, determination were 7,995 students and 1,193 unit members who tested affirmative for the coronavirus. That’s astir 0.5% of students and 0.7% of schoolhouse employees successful the region — somewhat higher than the 0.4% wide corruption complaint for the county, Ferrer said.

Moreover, during this period, 15,655 students and 1,056 schoolhouse employees were identified arsenic adjacent contacts successful K-12 settings countywide, with different 22,650 cases wherever the idiosyncratic had not been identified arsenic a pupil oregon unit member, according to figures shared during Thursday’s COVID-19 briefing by the wellness department. That’s astir 2% of each unit and students countywide, with precise fewer investigating affirmative for the coronavirus, Ferrer said. As of past week, lone 63 of astir 30,000 radical quarantined tested positive, oregon astir 0.2%, she said.

In different metrics, the seven-day cumulative lawsuit complaint is 132 caller cases per 100,000 youths ages 12 to 17 and 141 caller cases per 100,000 children ages 5 to 11. For children ages zero to 4, the lawsuit complaint is 88 per 100,000.

While lawsuit rates among each pediatric property groups roseate betwixt mid-July and mid-August, determination has since been astir a 40% decline, Ferrer said.

“This is promising, since it’s occurring arsenic students are going backmost to school,” Ferrer said of the driblet successful rates. “So we’re hopeful with continued adjacent attraction to those school-based strategies that trim the hazard of exposure, we’ll proceed to spot these lowered lawsuit rates crossed each property groups.”

The nationalist wellness manager besides continued to promote eligible students to get vaccinated, noting that the lawsuit complaint among unvaccinated 12- to 17-year-olds are “far above” those who are vaccinated.

Currently, 70% of those ages 16 and 17 successful the region person received astatine slightest 1 vaccine dose and 61% are afloat vaccinated. Among children ages 12 to 15, 63% person received astatine slightest 1 dose and 53% person gotten some shots.