Quarantine Letter for Schools

JoJoGo · Nov 16, 2020

Does your local health department not have a template for you? This is what I send to our students:

You are receiving this email because your 9th grade student has been identified as a close contact to a positive case. Their last exposure was on 11/3/20, so the quarantine will end on 11/17/20 and they will be able to return to school on 11/18/20. You should hear from the #### County Health Department in the next 24-48 hours, but if you do not please continue to keep your child at home in quarantine. Your child should remain at home unless they have to seek medical attention. They do not need to have a Covid test unless they develop any symptoms like a fever, cough, stomach issues, congestion, etc. Please call your child's physician if you have any concerns about their health. If your child develops any symptoms and are going to be tested, any siblings should remain home from school until those test results are back. Please notify me of any positive test results.

You do not need to fill out the daily screener while your child is at home. Thank you for your diligence and support as we continue to work to keep our students in school and healthy. Please let me know if you have any questions

BrisketRN, BSN, RN · Nov 16, 2020

Dear (PARENT),

We can confirm that a member of the community at (INSERT SCHOOL NAME) has tested positive for Covid-19. They are doing well, and we look forward to welcoming them back to school once they have made a full recovery. This person was last in school on (DATE). Please be aware that, for confidentiality reasons, we are not able to provide any further details about the person affected, although full details of the case have been reported to the local health department.

You are being contacted as your child has also been identified as potentially being in close contact to this person. Out of an abundance of caution, and following guidelines set out by the Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and (LOCAL DEPT OF HEALTH) they will now be required to quarantine through to (and including) (DATE)

(INSERT INFORMATION ON VIRTUAL LEARNING)

The guidance from (LOCAL HEALTH DEPT) states that any siblings of children identified as close contacts must also quarantine for 14 days. Consequently, any (SCHOOL) siblings must also access our virtual offering until (DATE).

We ask that you monitor the health of everyone in the home starting now through to (DATE). Symptoms include fever (temperature greater than 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit), chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle/body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea. Please seek medical advice should anyone in your household develop any of these symptoms.

Even if your child does not have symptoms, close contacts of positive cases are encouraged to call their healthcare provider to arrange for testing. It is recommended that they be tested 5 to 9 days after the potential exposure, which in this case was (DATE). Please be aware that even if the test is negative, your child must still complete the full 14-day quarantine. If they test positive, please inform the school and also seek medical advice immediately.

For further details, please consult the school’s Reopening Plan or visit (LOCAL HEALTH DEPT WEBSITE)

We will continue to follow the CDC and (LOCAL HEALTH DEPT) guidelines and take all necessary steps to ensure the health and safety of all students, colleagues, and the wider parent community at (SCHOOL) as a matter of priority.

We understand that you may have questions in light of this news so please get in contact with our school nurse (CONTACT INFO) or principal (CONTACT INFO). We will provide further updates when we are able to do so. I want to thank you for your understanding and support during this uniquely challenging time and reassure you that we are doing all we can to ensure continued, safe in-person learning at the school.

CrazySchoolNurse, LPN · Nov 17, 2020

We also did letters for volunteer self quarantine and positive test result.

Close contact:

Dear XXX

This letter is a follow up to our phone conversation regarding your student’s recent verified exposure with someone who has tested positive. {Principle} and {school nurse} are here to assist you during this time.

As mentioned in our conversation, your student must quarantine for the next 14 days. The last day of quarantine is [Date].

We will inform Counselor who will inform teachers that your student will attend classes virtually as long as your student feels well enough to do so. If your student is or becomes unable to attend classes due to feeling ill, please contact the appropriate counselor and they will notify your student’s teachers:

{Counselor}

Should you or your health care provider deem to have your student tested during quarantine, please follow the directions below:

When you receive the results--positive or negative--it is very important that you contact me or {name}, school nurse, immediately. Should you need to contact us outside of school hours, please do not hesitate to do so. Our contact information is:

{if you choose to do it} (we are a small private school)

If the results are negative, your student must still remain in quarantine for 14 days per diocesan policy.

If positive, we ask that you follow these directions in the event we need to communicate with the faculty, staff, and students of {School Name}. If your student has been in quarantine prior to feeling symptomatic OR getting tested, it may not be necessary to issue a communication. In the event that we do, this will help to avoid unnecessary concern or misunderstanding within the community.

If symptoms are present, create a list of {school} students with whom you feel your son/daughter has been in contact within 6 feet for over 15 consecutive minutes over a 24 hour time period since symptoms appeared (as well as two days before). The {health dept} will also contact you at some point to find out this information, as well as other places your so/daughter has been and with whom he/she has had contact.

If possible, please wait to contact members of the school community (I.e. your son/daughter's friends) until a letter from the school is sent out--if one is sent out. We must first contact the diocese and the {health dept}, but response time has been very quick, and we expect no more than a 2 hour delay from the time you contact us and the time we get the proper response, if any, from the diocese and {health dept}.

If a letter is sent out, we ask that your son/daughter refrain from contacting friends connected to {school} until then. In that letter, we will indicate that we will be calling students or faculty who are considered exposed and who will be required to quarantine for 14 days from the last known contact with the student.

As a courtesy, you may personally contact the parents of your son/daughter's close friends if you feel there was over 15 consecutive minutes over a 24 hour period of exposure within 6 feet , but if you do so prior to the information being shared with the {school} community, please request they keep it private until that letter is sent; your son/daughter should not be contacting students/friends until all communication has been sent by the school.

Your son/daughter should NOT post anything regarding his/her condition or his/her test result on social media.

If [Name of Student] has a sibling who also attends {school} or Catholic feeder school, we will help determine if they qualify for quarantine with the assistance of the {health dept}.

{School nurse} and {Principal} are here to assist you in any way possible during this difficult time. We will keep you and [Student Name] in our prayers.

Sincerely,

arlingtonnurse · Nov 17, 2020

Date:

Dear Parent/Guardian of _____________________________

On this date: _______________________ your student had a high risk exposure/close contact with an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19.

Per XXXXX Public School policy, your student must immediately leave school and complete a 14 day quarantine. Students are also strongly encouraged to get tested for COVID outside the school at least 4 days after the known exposure. Please send results of Covid-19 testing to the School Nurse (contact info below) prior to returning. Results may be faxed by your healthcare provider as well.

Earliest day of return if no symptoms develop: ____________________

Attached find information from the Covid Safety and Facilities Manual that may help you understand your next options as well as local resources available. Also please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or updates.

Sincerely,