Pierce County schools change quarantine, isolation guidelines amid COVID-19 case surge
Students in Pierce County who test positive for COVID-19 may not have to isolate themselves for as long as they used to, according to new guidance adopted by some school districts this week.
The changes were recently recommended by the state Department of Health and the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made the changes earlier this year.
Pierce County school districts, including Tacoma, Bethel and Sumner-Bonney Lake, shared the changes with their families this week.
Students who test positive for COVID-19 must now isolate at home for at least five full days, regardless of their vaccination status, compared to the previous 10 days.
Students can return to school when:
5 full days have passed since symptom onset, or the positive test sample was collected,
No symptoms are present, or symptoms are improving, and
No fever without the use of fever-reducing medications within 24 hours of returning.
Students who are identified as close contacts — within six feet of a person with COVID-19 for at least 15 cumulative minutes over a 24-hour period — must quarantine for five days, unless:
They are fully vaccinated and do not have symptoms. (They are still encouraged to get tested 5-7 days after exposure. Full vaccination includes a booster dose at least two weeks prior to exposure for students 18 and older.)
Or they tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 90 days.
Close contacts must complete a 10-day quarantine if they have not received the vaccine and booster and don’t have a lab-verified, negative COVID-19 test.
According to the CDC, the reduction in isolation days “is motivated by science demonstrating that the majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the 1-2 days prior to onset of symptoms and the 2-3 days after.”
The changes come at a time when COVID-19 cases are ballooning both in Pierce County and across the state. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department noted in a report last week that the county’s case rates and hospitalizations “have tripled in recent weeks.”
TPCHD tracks COVID-19 school outbreaks — defined as three or more cases or at least 10 percent of a group in a shared location over the last 28 days — by region. As of Jan. 6, there were 27 COVID-19 outbreaks in schools: two in Southwest Pierce County, four in Tacoma, two in South Pierce County, four in the Lake Tapps/Sumner area, two in South Hill, two in Parkland, two in Graham, two in Spanaway, two in Central Pierce County and five in other regions (regions with only one outbreak).
School districts track COVID-19 cases in their own way.
Tacoma Public Schools (enrollment about 29,000) has reported 290 positive COVID-19 cases district-wide and more than 1,000 close contacts since returning from winter break Jan. 3.
Tacoma Public Schools shared with its families on Tuesday that if they received an isolation or quarantine notice from Tacoma Public Schools between Jan. 1-10, their student may be able to return to school sooner than originally indicated. For more information, visit tacomaschools.org.
Bethel School District (enrollment about 20,000) shares the number of students and staff absent due to COVID-19 isolation. On Tuesday, there were 375 recorded absences.
The Sumner-Bonney Lake School District (enrollment about 10,000) has recorded 177 students isolating and 128 quarantining since returning from winter break between Jan. 3-11. For staff, there were 69 isolating and 12 quarantining, according to numbers provided by a district spokesperson. The district is still investigating all student case reports received since returning from winter break.
The News Tribune reporter Angelica Relente contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 2:46 PM.