THE SUMMARY: Thursday morning a 3 year old (I'll call him C) was brought to preschool by a family member (hereafter Re) who mentioned that she (Re) was supposed to be in quarantine, and was going to get tested for Covid later that day. My wife, caught off guard and uncertain what to do, called her supervisor who told her to admit C until & unless Re's test was positive.
I am certain that answer was very wrong, but that's just my lay opinion. I'm pretty sure C should be out until/unless Re's test is negative. By my logic and understanding of the practice of quarantining: •Re broke quarantine and extended her exposure to C. •Since C was admitted to school, that quarantine should now extend to everyone who was there Thursday, and now their households as well. I have checked CDC and our state DPH websites, but couldn't find anything specific and solid enough to arm my wife to second guess her boss.
WHAT I NEED: A pro to either explain to me that I'm wrong, or tell me what she should say to her boss.
MORE DETAILS: •Re's exposure is not in doubt. She has definitely had considerable contact with someone who has tested positive. (We know someone else who went into quarantine at the beginning of the week due to contact with the same person, so I wonder if Re should actually have been quarantined and tested sooner.) •Since Re broke quarantine to bring C to school, I don't imagine that she's properly distancing while at home. Re is in C's household, and I'm told he is typically "all over her," so I'd guess that C's level of exposure is probably about equal to Re's. •One of the school's requirements is that everyone takes lunch "family style." Although they are seating fewer children per table than they used to, they still have 6 kids and a staffer seated around each small kidney table. •While at school, C does a lot of (uncovered) sneezing and coughing. He spits a bit when he talks, and is grabby with things & people. •Working with C and managing his behavior is very hands-on and demands a lot of close contact. I want to stress that of that I am not criticizing C - he's 3. But the last two points do drastically elevate the level of exposure to other students, and to staff even more so.
I have not been able to let this matter go. (Can you blame me?) This weekend one staffer contacted the supe to reconfirm the earlier (bad) decision. She was told that "C can only be kept home if Re was tested, and you can prove that she had contact with C this weekend." Since we already know Re had significant exposure and was supposed to get tested, I fail to understand how it matters whether or not she actually went in and got tested. Furthermore, staff saw Re carrying and kissing C since the the time of her exposure (while she was supposed to be quarantined), so why should they need proof that they had more contact over the weekend? (I understand that the facts in this paragraph don't materially change the scenario. But it all seems so d****d foolish that I needed to vent it to an audience that would understand. This answer seems so illogical that I've lost confidence in the admin's ability to make good decisions.)
I am convinced the admin (who work in a building 40 miles away) are making a dire mistake, but I lack the references and credentials to tell them so. I give my dearest gratitude to anyone who can advise me here. Again, if you can tell me I'm worked up over nothing, great! Otherwise, I need to arm my wife with the right jargon to start the conversation, and with a list of best practices, specific guidelines, or whatever, that spell out the correct response so that this bad decision gets overturned without my wife having to argue or appear insubordinate.
