Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. staff and students will see new quarantine guidelines as another semester begins Thursday.
BCSC announced Wednesday that individuals quarantining as a positive case or close contact only need to quarantine for five days, instead of the previous 10. According to school officials, the change is being made to align with guidelines from the Indiana Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“These modifications are being enacted after consultation with internal stakeholder groups and local medical professionals,” said officials. The changes went into effect on Wednesday.
BCSC’s announcement includes a flowchart of what actions a staff member or student should take based on their situation.
A symptomatic individual who tests positive should isolate at home for five days and until symptoms have improved, with no fever for 24 hours (and no use of fever reducing medications).
A symptomatic person who tests negative and is not a close contact may return to school once their symptoms have improved and they’ve been fever-free for 24 hours. On the other hand, a symptomatic person who tests negative and is a close contact should follow the same steps as a positive test.
If an individual is exposed to a positive case outside of school, their actions depend on vaccination status. A vaccinated person may report to school and should monitor for symptoms. An unvaccinated person should stay home for five days and monitor for symptoms.
In regards to close contacts who are exposed to COVID-19 at school and have no symptoms, the rules vary based on masking.
In a situation where the positive case and close contacts were masked, close contacts within 3 feet should stay home for five days and monitor for symptoms. Contacts outside of 3 feet can remain in school but should monitor for symptoms. Those who develop symptoms should isolate and seek a COVID-19 test. Notably, this rule only applies to classroom and bus settings.
In a situation where the positive case and/or close contacts were unmasked (or were not in a classroom or bus setting), close contacts within 6 feet must quarantine for five days, test on day five if possible, return on day six and monitor for symptoms. However, the quarantine is not required if the asymptomatic close contact is either fully vaccinated or has had COVID-19 sometime in the past three months and recovered.
BCSC also released a list of “enhanced precautions” that close contacts identified in K-12 classrooms should follow upon their return to school for days six through 10. This includes masking at all times throughout the school day and while on the bus, distancing from others as much as possible, washing one’s hands well and monitoring for symptoms before arriving at school each day.
If symptoms are identified at home, the individual should not go to school and should seek a test. If symptoms develop during school, the person should go home as soon as possible and seek a test.
