Anonymous wrote:Yes, of course. Why do you ask such asinine questions?
We have been mostly quarantined for 7 months. We both work from home. We grocery shop, and that's pretty much it. DS is back at school. If we get the call from school that he's a close contact, he will stay home for the shorter of 14 days or until a negative test. Technically, best practices says that close contacts of close contacts (i.e., DS's immediate family) do not have to also quarantine. But because we are mostly quarantined anyhow, we would probably all stay home until the negative test result.
DS's in person school offers virtual too. They set it up so all kids are part of an in person class. Sucks for the virtual kids to sit in front of the computer from 9-3 every day, but it allows the flexibility that if anyone needs to stay home for any period of time, they can be fully tied in with the class still. It's actually pretty smart.
We already did this once this summer - DS started morning only outdoor camps. On day two of week three, he had the sniffles. I immediately withdrew him from camp for two full weeks, and quarantined him in his bedroom. And when i also got the sniffles, i got tested (negative). We didn't leave the house during that period.
It's much easier to do if you work from home or or have only one kid. If you have 2, 3 or more kids, then all of you, including the parent who works outside of the home, has to stay home until there is a negative test and symptoms resolve (although technically, I think you are supposed to stay home longer.). Or all stay home for 14 days after your last exposure to the COVID positive person. Each time one kid has a scratchy throat and sniffles, all of the kids have to stay home from school and any other activities for the prescribed period or until the symptomatic person is tested and fever free. Families whose income depends on working in person are less likely to stay home. I just don't see that happening for all families.
By the way, you don't even know the rules, because if you are close contact of a confirmed COVID case, I think you are supposed to stay quarantined for 14 days from your last contact. A negative test doesn't change that, at least as I understand it. We can't even agree on what the rules are, this is far from an absurd question.