Yesterday, the Hawaiʻi State Department of Health issued new guidance to schools on how to treat COVID-19 exposure, and specifically, quarantine instructions for individuals with potential exposure to a positive case in a school setting. 

Moving forward, no student or faculty/staff member exposed within a school setting will need to quarantine or be restricted from high risk activity, even if not up-to-date with their vaccinations, as long as they are not symptomatic or sick. Individuals are recommended to get tested five days following exposure if no symptoms exist, or test immediately if symptoms do develop. 

The new guidance reflects what we know about COVID and schools at this time: that transmission in a school setting is rare, and very few individuals identified as close contacts develop an infection themselves. This is because of the layers of safety that exist in school settings like masking, distancing, and proper ventilation, which still remain important. While Governor Ige announced the lifting of the indoor mask mandate on March 25, the recommendation remains to keep indoor mask wearing in schools, so we will continue to evaluate the situation, and will maintain mask wearing indoors.  

This change does shift more kuleana to individuals to make sure they are taking the proper precautions and notifications if positive, including notifying friends who they may have more sustained contact with so they can take the necessary steps for their care and well-being.

EXPOSURE OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL
If an individual is exposed as a result of a household contact or activity outside of school, that individual should continue to follow the general guidance regarding quarantine and isolation, including: 

• remaining out for 5 days following exposure if not vaccinated, 
• and remaining masked for 10 days at all times. 
• Additionally, positive individuals and individuals not up-to-date with their vaccinations should not participate in high risk activities for 10 full days if exposure took place outside of school. 

CONTACT TRACING MOVING FORWARD
The change in guidance and a lack of individual impact means that we can remove our SaferMe badge layer. More information will be shared soon about the roll-in of badges and when that will take place in each division. Though, as a result, when we are notified of a positive case, a notification will be sent broadly at the entire kula, grade, team, class, or bus route level. When a notification is received, this does not mean you were necessarily exposed, but that there was a potential chance of exposure, so monitor symptoms and test as a precaution based on what you know about your day and interactions. 

FREE TESTING STILL AVAILABLE ON-SITE
We do encourage all students and employees to remain vigilant and take precautions, including participating in voluntary screening testing. Our COVID-19 rapid antigen testing station will remain open during Spring Break (see the calendar for a schedule of hours), and everyone is encouraged to get tested upon return from Spring Break. Following a notification of a potential exposure, guidance recommends getting tested around 5 days after last contact, so we do encourage you to utilize a home test or our free on-site resource in those instances, even if not symptomatic.

REPORTING AND UPDATING RECORDS
While individual impact is less prominent at this time, we do still ask that you continue to keep health records up-to-date as students are vaccinated or receive their boosters, in the event of any future adjustments. Also, ʻohana should continue to report household or personal exposures and positive cases to the health room or using our COVID-19 reporting form.

As mentioned last week Friday, we are able to take these steps thanks to everyone taking the important precautions and remaining vigilant to prevent spread. We welcome this step forward and remain makaʻala and cautious as we holomua. 

If you have specific medical questions, please contact your keiki's health room nurse. If you have any questions or manaʻo regarding the latest guidance, please feel free to email us at kshawaii@ksbe.edu. 

Mālama pono! 

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