Wood County school superintendents and nurses met with Wood County Health Department officials this week to discuss new guidance on contact tracing from the Ohio Department of Health.
After the meeting, Bowling Green Superintendent Francis Scruci sent an email to parents, guardians and staff to explain how school districts are being asked to proceed.
In a letter to all local health departments and K-12 superintendents, Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, director of Ohio Department of Health, emphasized that the pandemic is not over. His concern remains with the quick spread of the Omicron variant and its rapid clinical course which makes universal contact tracing, case investigation and exposure notification impractical when combined with newly reduced timelines for quarantine and isolation.
Therefore, effective immediately:
- The Ohio Department of Health recommends that local health departments (LHDs) shift from universal contact tracing, case investigation and exposure notification to a cluster- or outbreak-based model. This strategy prioritizes people in high-risk settings, such as congregate residential settings (e.g., shelters, correctional facilities, and nursing homes) or for certain circumstances such as outbreaks or clusters in specific settings or in relation to initial cases or clusters associated with new variants, as appropriate.
- Schools may discontinue universal contact tracing but are expected to assist LHDs with contact tracing, case investigation and exposure notification related to outbreaks or clusters in schools as determined by the LHD. K-12 schools should continue to follow ODH’s protocol, “Mask to Stay, Test to Play,” and allow asymptomatic students to attend school while wearing a mask if they have been exposed to someone with COVID-19. The best place for kids is in school, in-person, full-time.
- ODH also will change the school case reporting cadence to weekly. Schools should report positive student and staff cases to their local health departments by close of business on Fridays. The health departments will continue to report on the same weekly cadence. This schedule will begin on Friday, Feb. 4. ODH will continue to evaluate related school reporting requirements.
What does this mean to our families?
- You will no longer be receiving emails/letters informing you of positive cases.
- We will not be contact tracing unless we have an outbreak.
- Masks will still be required at all times with the exception of lunch.
What should you do?
- Keep your vaccines up to date.
- Stay home when you or your student are sick.
- Be tested if it could be COVID.
- Notify your contacts in order for them to monitor illness.
- Seek medical care if you are at risk for severe illness or experiencing significant symptoms.
- Maintain social distancing when possible.
- Masking.
- Continue to use cough and sneeze etiquette.
- Hand washing on a regular basis.
“We anticipate sharing more information/resources from the Wood County Health Department that we have been told will be given to us next week. In the meantime, I encourage everyone to do their part in keeping themselves and everyone around them safe and healthy,” Scruci wrote. “Together we can continue to keep our students in class, where learning can best take place. I again thank you for your patience and understanding as we continue this journey through a pandemic.”
