Illness Exclusion Guidance — October 13, 2020

Thanks to all families for their continued vigilance with keeping ill children home and being careful about them returning to school too soon.   We appreciate your open communication regarding symptoms if your child is absent.   Please remember to keep seemingly well siblings home, too, if anyone in the household has COVID symptoms and/or a pending COVID test.

According to a recent update by Larimer County Public Health, recently, more positive COVID cases (in both adults and children) have been presenting with relatively mild symptoms.   Therefore,   with an uptick in COVID cases locally (see Larimer County Dashboard for daily updates) and schools just starting in-person hybrid learning, this is not the time to let our guard down.  

We are following the state’s Cases and Outbreak Guidance (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment) and Larimer County Health Department’s guidance.   This guidance was again updated last week and is subject to change at any time.  

The following summarizes current exclusion guidance while currently in “Safer at Home.” This guidance does NOT apply if the child is considered a close contact/known exposure to COVID:

If ANY symptoms resolve in 24 hrs and stay resolved for 24 hours, child can return to school (without COVID testing)

If MINOR SYMPTOMS ONLY resolve within 48 hours—and stay resolved for 24 hrs—child can return to school as long as he/she consistently wears a mask.

If a student has new loss of taste or smell (for any duration) or ANY of the major symptoms >24 hours or any combination of symptoms >48 hours, they must isolate and not return to school for 10 days UNLESS they have a negative COVID PCR test result. This will need to be the PCR test, not the rapid test. Student also needs to meet the other requirements: fever-free for 24 hours (without the use of fever reducing medication) AND overall symptoms improved.    

Current available tests for COVID include a rapid test (antigen test) and molecular test (PCR test).   The rapid test may be offered in the provider’s office and you get a result in less than an hour.   This is helpful and reliable if the result is positive.   However, it can miss an acute infection and therefore is not as reliable if result is negative.   Therefore, if a rapid antigen test is negative, it must be confirmed with a PCR test before returning to school.

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