Muscogee County School District changes COVID policy after 1 week of class
The Muscogee County School District has changed its COVID-19quarantine protocol for students and employees.
MCSD announced Friday it is cutting in half the distance to determine whether a student or employee has been a close contact with a person infected by the coronavirus. The new protocol is triggered only if the people involved were wearing masks, as the district requires for everyone in MCSD buildings.
In a letter to parents and guardians, MCSD says, “A person is considered to be in close contact of a positive person if they are within 3 feet for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period when masks are worn. If masks were not worn, close contact is identified as 6 feet within the positive person.”
This change — announced at the close of the new school year’s first week — allows MCSD to reduce the number of students and employees required to leave district property and quarantine at home.
During the first week of this school year, from Aug. 9-13, MCSD received reports of 89 positive COVID-19 tests (65 students, 24 employees), requiring 591 people to isolate or quarantine (551 students, 40 employees), according to a news release from the district.
MCSD has 30,122 students and 5,175 employees, including 3,629 employees based in a school.
With the change, the length of the quarantine remains the same and depends on vaccination, according to MCSD’s policy.
“Individuals who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with an exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, are not required to quarantine if it has been at least 14 days since the completion of the COVID-19 vaccination series,” the policy says.
Students and employees who aren’t vaccinated “can return to school after Day 7 upon receiving a negative test result and having no symptoms. Testing must occur on Day 5 or later after exposure. A student or employee can return after 10 days and having no symptoms,” the policy says.
“Realizing the importance of schools and their ties to communities, the Muscogee County School District remains committed to providing safe, in-person instruction for students and staff utilizing layered mitigation strategies while adapting to the frequent updates associated with COVID-19 and its variants,” MCSD superintendent David Lewis said in the news release.
MCSD’s policy aligns with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention federal guidance for COVID-19 protection in K-12 schools, last updated Aug. 5. Lewis has said he also consults with a panel of local medical experts to help him decide coronavirus protocols for the district.
This story was originally published August 14, 2021 at 3:07 PM.
