In violation of new federal regulations, St. Paul Public Schools will continue to require students who are infected with the coronavirus to self-isolate at home for 10 days after testing positive or showing signs of illness.
On December 27, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reduced the recommended isolation time from 10 days to 5 days. Thereafter, the recovering person may exit isolation as long as they have no symptoms and agree to wear a suitable face mask for five days.
Since their release, the guidelines have been adopted by at least a dozen of Minnesota’s largest school districts, but not by Saint Paul.
“SPPS is taking a more conservative approach to isolation periods for students than the CDC’s recommendation due to the need to undress students at meals and other implementation issues at school,” the district said in a message to families on Friday.
Press Secretary Kevin Burns did not respond to a request for more information on “implementation issues” on Monday.
10 DAY ISOLATION
The Saint Paul Federation of Educators has urged the district to maintain a 10-day lockdown for students and staff, or require two negative rapid tests for those who return early.
While St. Paul County has maintained a 10-day rule for students, employees must now return five days later. This is to help with a staffing shortage that has caused several metro school districts to temporarily transition to remote learning.
Saint Paul Teachers Union President Leah VanDassor did not return a phone message on Monday.
The Elk River School District was among those that adopted a new five-day isolation protocol for students and staff.
“We know this news will bring relief to many of our families as it reduces the amount of school time our students miss,” the district said in a message to families. “However, we must continue to move forward with caution and refrain from sending students to school when they are sick (even if they have passed the five-day quarantine period).”
COMPETING GOALS
The CDC said in a statement that the switch to shorter isolation was “motivated by scientific evidence that most SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the disease, typically 1-2 days before symptom onset and 2-3 days later.” day.”
The agency also acknowledged that keeping sick people out of the community for 10 days is hard on individuals and communities, especially at a time when the highly contagious omicron variant is prevalent.
“These updated guidelines also facilitate individual social and wellness needs, get back to work, and support critical infrastructure,” the CDC website says.
The change alarmed some health experts, who said it was driven less by science than by practicality.
Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, told ABC News Jan. 2 that the CDC is considering adding a requirement that recovering people test negative before they leave isolation. But the CDC update ultimately did not include this requirement.
In addition to a shorter isolation period for infected people, the CDC has also reduced the recommended quarantine period to five days – from 10 – for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people who come into close contact with an infected person.
DISTRICTS GO TO 5 DAYS
Since the CDC’s announcement, many major Minnesota school districts have implemented a five-day lockdown for sick students and staff. These include Anoka Hennepin, Rosemount Apple Valley Egan, Osseo, Elk River, Robbinsdale, Wayzata, Mounds View, Lakeville, Bloomington, St. Cloud, and East Carver County.
