COVID-Related Information
Dear School Community,
As we close our classroom doors and prepare ourselves for the holiday celebrations with family and friends, we ask that all of you continue to maintain the safety measures that have kept us healthy thus far. In light of the rising rates in our community and surrounding areas, we do expect that many will become a close contact or encounter a positive test result throughout the holiday season. For that reason, we have put together the following guidelines for our Garnet Valley community members:
If you are looking for guidance for isolation for a positive Covid test result or guidance for quarantine as a result of being in close contact with a positive Covid case, please get in touch with your physician.
Positive for Covid: If you have received a positive Covid test result on your first day of symptoms, that is “Day 0” of your 10 day isolation period. If you test positive and have no symptoms, then your “Day 0” starts the day of the test.
Close contact to a positive case:
Vaccinated individual: If you are fully vaccinated, two weeks from your second dose of Moderna or Pfizer vaccine or two weeks after your J&J vaccine, the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PDOH) recommends Covid testing 3-5 days after the last day of exposure to the positive case. The PDOH also recommends wearing a mask inside for two weeks after your exposure as well.
Unvaccinated individual: If you are unvaccinated, you need to quarantine after exposure to a positive Covid case. Here are the options for quarantine:
Quarantine for 7 days, “Day 0” is the last day of contact, and you can return to normal activity on day 8 as long as you test negative test day 5-7 from exposure
Quarantine for 10 days and if you remain asymptomatic you may return to normal activities on day 11
Quarantine for the full 14 days returning to normal activity on day 15
DOH Reference for isolation and quarantine: https://www.chesco.org/DocumentCenter/View/63861/2021-School-Close-Contact-Instructions
Anyone that emails our nurses’ offices over the holiday break will receive the information provided above.
As always, thank you for your unwavering support and understanding. We hope all of you enjoy a safe and peaceful holiday, and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year!
Sincerely,
Dr. Marc Bertrando, Superintendent