Five-day isolation periods after testing positive for COVID are no longer required, including for children attending school. Instead, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests returning to normal activities when symptoms have improved overall for at least 24 hours, and if a fever was present, that it subsided without a fever-reducing medication.
After a person has returned to normal routines, the CDC encourages them to take extra precautions for the following five days, like washing their hands more often and covering their mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing.
In March, the CDC streamlined safety guidelines for COVID-19, flu, and other respiratory viruses. The change came as a result of the coronavirus no longer being the public health threat it once was.
“We still must use the common sense solutions we know work to protect ourselves and others from serious illness from respiratory viruses — this includes vaccination, treatment, and staying home when we get sick,” said CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen in a statement at the time the update was made.
Massachusetts guidelines
The COVID guidance for schools and the general public are the same at this point, according to a spokesperson from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
If children exhibit respiratory illness symptoms, they should be tested for COVID-19 and flu. If they test positive, health officials recommend they stay at home to reduce the risk of infecting others. Hand-washing often with soap and warm water or using hand sanitizer containing at least 60 percent alcohol also aids in limiting the spread.
The same recommendations apply to a child — or any person — who is asymptomatic but tests positive. And although it’s not required, staying home for about 72 hours may also help prevent getting others sick.
Changes to existing school guidelines
Boston Public Schools said it is working with the Boston Public Health Commission to revise existing COVID protocols but did not have any updates at the time of publication.
“We are following CDC guidelines and we will be putting out something new in the coming days,” said Max Baker, a BPS spokesperson.
Cambridge Public Schools said it is lifting most testing requirements, which were required in past school years. The district will no longer send students and staff at-home test kits to use before school starts, nor when they feel COVID-like symptoms throughout the year. Likewise, students will no longer receive tests to use the morning before returning to school after Thanksgiving, winter, February, and April breaks.
Nurses in CPS will continue to test students who report COVID symptoms. Masking continues to be optional and students aren’t required to be fully vaccinated.
“Our communal efforts to mitigate the spread of infection have allowed Cambridge Public Schools to suspend at-home targeted post-break testing,” said David Murphy, CPS interim superintendent, in a statement. The decision was made in partnership with the Cambridge Health Alliance.
“We continue emphasizing prevention strategies such as hand-washing and are poised to adapt quickly if conditions change,” Murphy said. “Finally we will continue to send periodic communications in order for our community to stay vigilant against the continued spread of the virus.”
In Chelsea, there are no new rules since last year.
“Nothing’s really changed on that front,” said Chelsea Public Schools spokesperson Michael Sullivan. “We’re following current protocols. Nothing’s different from the past school year.”
If your child has to stay home
It’s better for your child, their teachers, and their peers to stay home if they are feeling sick, and they should feel supported to do so even if experiencing some anxiety over missing lessons or important schoolwork, said Jennifer Fiore, a primary care pediatrician at Boston Medical Center.
“Health is always the number one priority,” she said in an email. “Good communication with teachers is key to ensure they are able to recover fully and catch up with school work.”
Fiore also said vaccinations are key to best health practices. And as important as infection prevention is, it’s “normal and expected” for young kids to get sick at times.
“I often counsel families that children attending day care for the first time can contract up to 10 illnesses throughout the year,” Fiore said. “This is part of the normal process of building up a healthy immune system.”
Where to get COVID tests
The Boston Public Health Commission plans to resume distribution of COVID test kits and personal protective equipment in October, said spokesperson Andrew Lemos in an email. Additional details will be available in the coming weeks, he said.
In Cambridge, free at-home COVID-19 tests are available at the Cambridge Public Health Department, located at 119 Windsor St.
Staff writer Christopher Huffaker contributed to this report.
Natalie La Roche Pietri can be reached at natalie.larochep@globe.com. Follow her @natalaroche.
