Back-To-School COVID Rules

 

With students preparing to return to the classroom after a long, hot summer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission in schools, preschools, and child care facilities.

BA.5 is now the predominant Omicron subvariant in the United States, accounting for almost 90% of new cases of COVID-19, according to the CDC COVID Data Tracker. It is the most contagious version of coronavirus thus far, and new mutations to the pathogen’s genome are expected to evolve as time goes on.

The trend in deaths from coronavirus in the U.S. has been fairly steady during the summer — roughly 350-450 Americans die every day from COVID-19. (The Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center estimates 1,037,001 have died — 6.4 million globally — since the outbreak was declared a national public health emergency 29 months ago). While it’s clear the virus can still do some serious damage, the fact that so many people have received vaccines has clearly reduced the risk of severe disease that can result in hospitalizations, complications, and deaths. Nearly 3 out of 4 Americans 5 years and older are fully vaccinated, and almost half of them have received a booster.

Studies show that vaccine-induced immunity is pretty strong and appears to last longer than natural immunity, which has also helped to protect people who were infected with the summer surge of BA.5 and BA.2.12.1 during the spring. As a result of immunity acquired by vaccine or illness, we are in a much different and less fraught place than we were when school reopened a year ago.

Melissa Jenco reports on the CDC’s renewed approach for minimizing the impact of COVID-19 on students, teachers, and parents this year:

“We’re in a stronger place today as a nation, with more tools — like vaccination, boosters, and treatments — to protect ourselves, and our communities, from severe illness from COVID-19,” CDC epidemiologist Greta Massetti, Ph.D., M.P.H., author of the community guidance, said in a press release. “We also have a better understanding of how to protect people from being exposed to the virus, like wearing high-quality masks, testing, and improved ventilation. This guidance acknowledges that the pandemic is not over, but also helps us move to a point where COVID-19 no longer severely disrupts our daily lives.”

 

The CDC’s most effective recommendations haven’t changed:

1. Know your risk. Stay informed by local media and the CDC’s county-by-county surveillance data. Currently, 40% of counties in the U.S. (including Allegheny, Washington, Westmoreland, and Butler counties in southwestern PA) have high community levels of COVID-19. Another 40% are in the medium range.

It’s also important for people to understand their own individual risk for picking up the virus and experiencing a poor outcome. People in the highest risk category include the elderly, people with chronic health conditions (those living with heart disease, chronic lung disease, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, sickle cell disease, cancer, and immune deficiencies), pregnant women, children with special health care needs (including genetic, neurologic, and metabolic conditions, and congenital heart disease), and those who remain unvaccinated.

2. Stay up to date on vaccines. The most effective strategy that objectively reduce the burden of COVID-19 in our communities is getting vaccinated. Everyone 6 months of age and older is eligible to receive either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, both of which have proven after the administration of hundreds of millions of doses to be safe and effective. Booster doses are also extremely important to keep immunity high, and they are recommended for everyone 5 years of age and older at least 5 months after the second dose in the primary series is given. A second booster dose is strongly recommended for adults 50 and older as well as younger people with conditions affecting their immune system.

Most pediatricians have plenty of COVID-19 vaccine in stock and ready to give to their patients. It is parents’ responsibility to make sure their  kids are protected against COVID-19 and other vaccine-preventable infections before the school year begins.

3. Stay home when feeling sick. This one should be self-explanatory. But most parents know that sometimes kids don’t act particularly sick when they get certain viruses (including coronavirus), and parents can find it difficult taking time off from work when their “sick” kids are home bouncing off the walls. Still, even when symptoms are mild, “staying home when sick can lower the risk of spreading infectious diseases, including COVID-19, to other people.”

4. Optimize ventilation in schools and classrooms. Hopefully schools have been checking windows and updating their HVAC systems over the summer. (Parents may want to throw an extra sweatshirt or jacket in their child’s backpack or locker in case teachers decide to keep the windows cracked open.)

5. Observe hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette. Washing hands prevents the spread of SARS-CoV-2, influenza, common cold viruses, gastroenteric viruses, and other harmful pathogens. Covering coughs and sneezes can also prevent the transmission of infectious diseases.

6. Clean surfaces at least once a day.

7. Universal indoor masking with properly fitting face masks is recommended when the community level of COVID-19 is “high.” 

In addition, schools might need to require masking regardless of community trends in classrooms or during activities to protect students who are immunocompromised or have other conditions that increase their risk for getting seriously ill with COVID-19.

Mask use is not recommended for children under 2 or in older children with disabilities that make mask-wearing difficult.

 

Keeping 6 feet of social distancing is no longer being emphasized by the CDC. Although it’s an effective layer of protection in reducing the transmission of respiratory viruses like coronavirus, social distancing isn’t very practical in school settings.

The CDC dropped the recommendation for quarantine after exposure to someone with COVID-19. However, masks are recommended to be worn around other people for 10 days after known or suspected exposure. Testing should be done anytime that symptoms develop, or 5 days after exposure if no symptoms are present.

Joyce Frieden explains isolation procedures for those who test positive:

• Stay home for at least 5 days and isolate from others in your home. You are likely most infectious during these first 5 days.

• Wear a high-quality mask when you must be around others at home and in public.

• If, after 5 days, you are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of medication, and your symptoms are improving, or you never had symptoms, you may end isolation after day 5.

• Regardless of when you end isolation, avoid being around people who are more likely to get very sick from COVID-19 until at least day 11.

• Wear a high-quality mask through day 10.

• If you had moderate illness (if you experienced shortness of breath or had difficulty breathing) or severe illness (you were hospitalized) due to COVID-19 or you have a weakened immune system, you need to isolate through day 10.

 

Most schools in Pennsylvania are set to open their doors in the next 2 weeks. Parents should make sure their kids are protected against nasty bugs like Omicron BA.5 and newer subvariants that are sure to follow, as well as other pathogens that routine vaccines prevent (polio is a timely example, and a new influenza season is right around the corner).

Read the CDC’s “Operational Guidance for K-12 Schools and Early Care and Education Programs to Support Safe In-Person Learning” updated last week, as well as the CDC’s strategy for “[…] Minimizing the Impact of COVID-19 on Individual Persons, Communities, and Health Care Systems.”

 

source http://www.thepediablog.com/2022/08/15/back-to-school-covid-rules/