Health commissioner: Schools are in charge of teaching, not Covid testing | Education


Health commissioner: Schools are in charge of teaching, not Covid testing | Education

That would mean keeping track of who was in the classroom throughout the day, including students and teachers; if they wore masks; and if hand sanitizer was available, Stapleton said.

“We determine who might have been in close contact and who we recommend testing for, and who we would not recommend testing for,” he said.

Those children or staff who were in close contact with an infected person will be advised they have been exposed, told they are under quarantine and where they can obtain a diagnostic test. Some clinics offer free tests; others take health insurance.

“The health department is in the business to contact trace. That’s a bread-and-butter function we have done before Covid-19,” Burstein said. “If you’re not notified by the health department, you’re not at risk.”

The school could inform parents there has been a positive case without providing specific information about the person, she said.

Burstein and Stapleton said it will primarily be up to superintendents to decide if a school should be closed after someone tests positive. 

“It’s a superintendent’s decision to close schools. I can’t close schools unless there’s an imminent public health threat,” Stapleton said.

But he said the health department can talk with school districts about “numbers that work for them,” that include absentee rates for students and faculty, and infection rates in the school and region.


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