NYC public schools lift 5-day COVID-19 quarantine period for students

The new guidelines say a child who gets COVID-19 will have to stay home for at least 24 hours. The situation will be treated like other respiratory infections, such as the flu.

News 12 Staff

Mar 19, 2024, 4:40 PM

Updated 38 days ago

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New York City schools are no longer required a five-day quarantine period for people who test positive for COVID-19.
The new guidelines say a child who gets COVID-19 will have to stay home for at least 24 hours. The situation will be treated like other respiratory infections, such as the flu.
School leaders say the child should stay home until they have had no fever without taking fever-reducing medicine and when other COVID-19 symptoms are getting better.
While the mandate has been lifted, health experts say that there's still a need for those to proceed with caution when faced with a positive test.
"If they're feeling sick, then they need to stay home until they're feeling better. If they're feeling perfectly fine and they tested positive for COVID for the next five days they should kind of protect the other people around them. Just to be on the safe side, wear a mask," said Dr. John Quale, an infectious disease specialist from Kings County Hospital.
If the child does test positive but doesn't have symptoms, they can be at school but must wear a mask at all times.
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