The most up-to-date version of CHA’s All-School COVID-19 Sickness Protocol is always accessible on our COVID-19 Information page. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Linda Rowan, School Nurse.
CHA’s announcement on December 9, 2020:
We are pleased to share that on 12/7/20, the Illinois Department of Health (IDPH) officially announced its intent to adhere to the recent Center for Disease Control (CDC) suggestion to shorten quarantine days for persons exposed to COVID who are showing NO SIGNS or SYMPTOMS of COVID by day 5 of quarantine. See the complete IDPH guidance and rationale here.
Because of this new information, CHA has revised our policies for quarantining students with known COVID exposure to the following:
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Quarantine can end after Day 10 without testing and if no symptoms have been reported during daily monitoring. This replaces the current 14 day policy.
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Quarantine can end after Day 7 if a diagnostic specimen tests negative and if no symptoms were reported during daily monitoring. The specimen must be collected and tested within 48 hours before the time of planned quarantine discontinuation (e.g., in anticipation of testing delays), but quarantine cannot be discontinued earlier than Day 8. In other words, the earliest they could test would be on Day 6. Negative test results dated more than 48 hours before the return to school will not be accepted.
Please keep in mind that persons can discontinue quarantine at these time points only if the following criteria are also met:
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No clinical evidence of COVID-19 has been elicited by daily symptom monitoring during the entirety of quarantine up to the time at which quarantine is discontinued; and,
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Daily symptom monitoring continues through quarantine Day 14 and if any symptoms develop, they immediately self-isolate and contact CHA Health Services to report this change in clinical status.