Jan. 7, 2022
Today we received new guidance from the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education that they are aligning their guidance for school settings with recently released CDC guidance.
Effective immediately, Geneva 304 will be following this guidance. We will continue to communicate with our community on additional details, but in preparation for our return Monday, the purpose of this communication is to clarify some of the new COVID-19 guidelines and how those impact our schools.
New guidance for quarantine:
- Quarantine means staying home for at least 5 days after exposure to someone diagnosed with COVID-19.
- Students, teachers, and staff who came into close contact with someone with COVID-19 and are in one of the following groups do not need to quarantine:
- People who are ages 18 and older and have received all recommended vaccine doses, including boosters (when eligible) and additional primary shots for some immunocompromised people. Documentation will be required to prove status.
- People who are ages 5–17 years and completed the primary series of COVID-19 vaccines.
- People who had confirmed COVID-19 within the last 90 days (tested positive using a viral test)
New guidance for isolation:
- Similar to the previous directive, people who have confirmed or suspected COVID-19 or are showing symptoms of COVID-19 need to isolate regardless of vaccination status.
- However, now people who have COVID-19 and have or had symptoms should isolate for at least 5 days. To calculate the 5-day isolation period, day 0 is the first day of symptoms. Day 1 is the first full day after their symptoms developed.
We thank you for your patience and continued partnership as we transition to the updated CDC/IDPH guidance for isolation and quarantine.
Sincerely,
Dr. Kent Mutchler
Superintendent of Schools