Can she return to school?
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Anonymous
| My daughter got a stuffy nose and cough Saturday. We tested her Sunday and she was positive. She has stayed home all week and is now asymptomatic. According to CDC guidelines, she may now return to school as she has completed five days of quarantine. I even called the school nurse to ask, who said she can return. However, she is still testing positive even though she’s asymptomatic. I can’t find anything on CDC or MCPS that addresses this. Can she return to school on day six, asymptomatic yet positive? The nurse didn’t ask if she was testing positive or negative. |
Anonymous
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Not sure of school policy, but Day 5 would actually be tomorrow (Thursday), so she’s not done with quarantine yet. The first day of symptoms (Saturday) counts as Day 0. There’s a calculator here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/quarantine-isolation.html#
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Anonymous
| She can go back on the sixth day which is Friday. |
Anonymous
| Friday. |
Anonymous
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First of all, Saturday (onset symptoms) is day 0. So she at least needs to stay home tomorrow (Thursday) to properly follow cdc and mcps guidelines. According to mcps guidelines she can come back Friday in a well-fitted mask. According to cdc guidelines, if you do decide to test on day 5 (optional) and it’s positive you are supposed to isolate the full 10 days. Those are the actual guidelines.
Ethically she should not come back to school if she is still testing positive because she is still contagious regardless of her symptoms. In reality, I think many people would ignore ethics and send the child back to school as soon as the school will have her. If it were me, I’d test her again Friday AM and if still positive, keep home through the weekend. Ymmv. |
Anonymous
Thank you all for your comments. She’ll stay home tomorrow and I’ll call the nurse to ask. I’ve spent the last twenty minutes online and even the cdc guidelines don’t say a negative test is required to return to school. They have a great flowchart but it doesn’t address this question. I thought we were following all the rules based on the multiple emails I’ve received from school. The only reason I questioned this is because my friend’s kid at another school in our cluster is required to show a negative test to reenter school. |
Anonymous
| No |
Anonymous
| She can go back on Monday. The day AFTER you test positive is day 1 of quarantine/isolation. You must isolate for five days. Then if on day 6 she is getting better/is asymptomatic, then she can go back to school if she wears a mask. Day 6 is on Saturday. Therefore, she can't go until Monday. |
Anonymous
The sixth day is Saturday, not Friday. CDC: "Day 0 is the day of your positive viral test (based on the date you were tested) and day 1 is the first full day after the specimen was collected for your positive test. You can leave isolation after 5 full days." https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/quarantine-isolation.html#:~:text=Day%200%20is%20the%20day,after%20at%20least%205%20days. |
Anonymous
Neither the cdc nor mcps requires a negative test to re-enter school. Cdc made the policy during the winter omicron wave when it was hard to get a test (and they wouldn’t admit they were caught without ample test infrastructure) so if they required everyone to test out of isolation, the test scarcity would have caused an extra barrier to staffing issues (remember there were no bus drivers?). Your friend’s kid’s school may have gone rogue and required a negative test, but that contradicts official mcps policy. That said, mcps has been doing some case-by-case stuff lately that doesn’t match their official district policy, so your best resource (as you know) is the school nurse. |
Anonymous
| Please keep her home through this week, a positive test so soon after being sick means she is still contagious |
Anonymous
This CDC quote says Day 0 is Saturday, which was the first day of symptoms. Calculating Isolation Day 0 is your first day of symptoms or a positive viral test. Day 1 is the first full day after your symptoms developed or your test specimen was collected. If you have COVID-19 or have symptoms, isolate for at least 5 days. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/quarantine-isolation.html |
Anonymous
| We just went through the same thing. DCUM and the pediatrician's office told us to stop testing. MCPS policy (and CDC guidelines) provide for end of isolation after Day 5 as long as good mask is worn, fever free and symptoms are improving. My kid never had a fever and we finally gave in on Day 8. He desperately wanted out but also was very anxious not to do anything unethical. It was our first bout with Covid and we didn't realize that there was no negative test requirement. |
Anonymous
Thank you for sharing this (Op here). We’re also trying to do the right thing, but the rules seem to be confusing and/or inconsistent. |
Anonymous
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Please do not send her back until rapid test is negative. Rapid tests only show positive with very high viral load, which means very likely still contagious.
https://dearpandemic.org/10-day-positive-contagious/ |