Dec. 8, 2020 – The Florida Department of Health – Duval and Duval County Public Schools are now implementing new guidance from the CDC to reduce the quarantine period for asymptomatic close contacts from 14 days down to a quarantine period of 10 days.
The change enables quarantined students and staff to return to school and re-engage with classroom learning as much as four days earlier.
A close contact is an individual who has been within 6 feet of an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19 for a total of 15 minutes or more during a 24-hour period. A person who is asymptomatic exhibits no symptoms of COVID-19. Symptoms include fever, loss of taste or smell, diarrhea, nausea, and other flu-like symptoms.
Students and staff returning to school after the new 10-day quarantine period will be required to follow normal district protocols for social distancing and wearing a face covering at all times. Because face coverings cannot be worn in athletics, students will be held out of sports participation until the full 14-day period has concluded.
The Florida Department of Health will apply the 10-day quarantine period universally across the First Coast both for schools and the community. The revised quarantine requirement is going into effect immediately for close contacts identified for positive COVID-19 cases reported beginning today.
As of today, almost 5,800 students and staff have been quarantined as a result of the 607 positive COVID-19 cases identified through the Department of Health’s contact tracing and case investigations in Duval County Public Schools.
“When the CDC provides an option for students and staff to safely return to school four days earlier, we need to take that option,” said Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene. “I am pleased that we are on the same page with the Florida Department of Health – Duval in working to maximize learning time for students while still adhering to CDC guidance.”
