Four years after the coronavirus pandemic closed schools and disrupted child care, the CDC says parents can start treating the virus like they would any other respiratory illness.
Mandatory quarantine periods and masks have been abolished. But will schools and childcare centers agree?
In case you're lost: By Friday, all Americans, including schoolchildren, will be required to stay home for at least five days if infected with COVID-19 and then wear a mask for a period of time, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Control and prevention were supposed to be worn.
Currently, the CDC says children can return to school as long as their overall symptoms improve and they don't have to take medication and don't have a fever for 24 hours. Students are “recommended” to wear masks when returning home.
Still, the changes may not affect how schools encourage parents to respond when their children become ill. Schools and child care providers vary in their ability to follow CDC recommendations, often relying on local governments to make final decisions. Other goals, such as reducing absenteeism, may also influence state and district decisions.
The result is potentially confusing states and districts, perplexing parents whose lives have long been upended by the virus.
For example, during the 2021-2022 school year, only 18 states followed the CDC's recommendations on wearing masks during classes. When the CDC lifted mask-wearing guidelines in February 2022, states such as Massachusetts followed suit, although California maintained a mask requirement in schools.
And in the child care world, some providers have long used stricter testing and isolation protocols than those recommended by the CDC. The reasons range from preventing outbreaks to keeping staff healthy, to staff personal safety and keeping the daycare open.
Some states have moved ahead of the CDC to more lenient guidelines. California and Oregon recently rescinded their COVID-19 quarantine requirements, and many school districts followed that recommendation.
To minimize school absences and address the epidemic of chronic absenteeism, California is encouraging children to come to school if they have mild symptoms and encouraging asymptomatic students to attend school even if they test positive for the coronavirus. He said he could go to. School systems in Los Angeles and San Diego, among others, have adopted that policy.
However, the majority of school districts across the country still require parents to quarantine their children for at least five days before returning to school. Some states, including Boston and Atlanta, are requiring students to wear masks for an additional five days and report to school if they test positive for the coronavirus.
Specific guidelines for schools and child care centers are important for working parents who must take time off from work if their children cannot attend school or day care. In October 2023, 104,000 adults reported taking time off from work due to childcare issues, as parents and guardians across the country grappled with the simultaneous outbreaks of coronavirus, respiratory syncytial virus, and influenza. This is the highest number in at least 10 years. Their numbers have decreased. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 41,000 adults missed work last month due to child care issues.
Melissa Colagrosso's child care center in West Virginia dropped special coronavirus guidelines about a year ago, she said. Now, they are just like any other disease. Children must be free of serious symptoms, such as fever, for at least 24 hours before returning to the center.
“We are certainly treating the coronavirus the same way we would treat the flu or hand, foot and mouth disease,” said Colagrosso, CEO of A Place to Grow Children's Center in Oak Hill. “I'm doing it,” he said.
What if children without symptoms test positive for coronavirus? Colagrasso said this is a challenge she hasn't encountered before, since most parents don't test their children unless they have symptoms.
