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Modified quarantine guidance provided by Health Department

Today, the Springfield-Greene County Health Department (SGCHD) issued modified quarantine guidance for K-12 students in Greene County. Today’s announcement serves as a follow up to recent guidance from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The new guidance issued by SGCHD allows for some, but not all, of the state guidance to be implemented in Greene County schools. 
 
Beginning November 30, SPS will amend its quarantine protocol to comply with the new SGCHD guidance as follows:
 
  • Modified quarantine will only apply to K-12 students and not to adults.
  • If a student is determined to be a close contact of a COVID-positive case while at school, and both the COVID-positive case and the close contact were compliant in wearing a mask and following other appropriate guidelines, the close contact student may be eligible for modified quarantine. 
  • If either the COVID-positive case or the close contact were not wearing a mask at all times, standard quarantine would be required. 
  • Modified quarantine is a strict exemption for educational purposes only. Students who are eligible for a modified quarantine are only allowed to attend school, must quarantine at home at all other times, and are not eligible to participate in extracurricular activities during modified quarantine.
  • While at school, students who are attending as part of a modified quarantine will not participate in any activity in which a mask cannot be worn. When a mask is removed for eating or drinking, the student must be at least six feet from others.
  • There are a limited number of students who are currently following standard quarantine protocols who may be eligible for a modified quarantine. SPS will individually notify those eligible students before the Thanksgiving holiday to let them know they may return to school on November 30.
 
Modified quarantine is an effort to keep children in the learning environment while continuing to manage the risk of COVID-19. To learn more about modified quarantine guidelines from the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, visit the department’s website here.
 
For questions about how SPS will apply these guidelines, parents should contact their school’s nurse.
 
Posted Nov. 23, 2020