In big shift, CDC says children exposed to COVID-19 can stay in class, also ends test-to-stay at school

Damakant Jayshi

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has eased its COVID-19 related recommendations, including ending quarantine requirements for the unvaccinated and test-to-stay for K-12 schools and childcare centers.

Announcing its updated recommendations on the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday, the CDC said it is removing “the recommendation to quarantine, except in high-risk congregate settings” and ended its test-to-stay protocol for schools.

The announcement comes three weeks before the 2022-23 school year begins for area schools.

Under test-to-stay, unvaccinated students or school staff exposed to someone with COVID-19 but not showing symptoms could stay in school if they tested negative and wore a mask for 10 days. This protocol has been removed.

Those who completed the full vaccination series were already exempt from quarantine requirements. Now, the national health agency has extended that exemption to all, contending that most of the U.S. population has been infected by COVID-19 at some point and should have some immunity.

“We’re in a stronger place today as a nation, with more tools – like vaccination, boosters, and treatments – to protect ourselves, and our communities, from severe illness from COVID-19,” said Greta Massetti, PhD, and lead author of the latest report published by the CDC. “This guidance acknowledges that the pandemic is not over, but also helps us move to a point where COVID-19 no longer severely disrupts our daily lives.”

The CDC still recommends that if a person tests positive for COVID-19, they should stay home for at least five days and isolate from others in their home and wear a high-quality mask during the quarantine. If they are fever-free for 24 hours without using medicine and their symptoms are improving, or if they never had symptoms, they may end isolation after day five but they should still wear a high-quality mask through day 10.

Marathon County Health Department officials are reviewing the update.

“At this time, we are currently reviewing the CDC updates and will update our guidance accordingly,” Rebecca Mroczenski, Communicable Disease Manager at the Health Department, told Wausau Pilot & Review.

New CDC study finds children at risk for heart problems, kidney failure, after COVID-19 infection

Researchers now say children and teens who have had a COVID-19 infection are at greater risk for a range of lifelong health issues.

That conclusion came from a new study published last week by the CDC based on medical records from more than 780,000 children, age 0 to 17. According to the study, children who had COVID-19 were more likely to experience blood clots, heart problems, kidney failure and type 1 diabetes. The nearly two-year study compared the records of those who have had COVID-19 with those of more than 2.3 million children who did not become infected.

Those with a history of COVID-19 were two times more likely to have blood clots and nearly two times more likely to have heart problems, including chest pain and shortness of breath.

These children were also 1.3 times more likely to have kidney failure and 1.23 times more likely to have type 1 diabetes compared to those without COVID-19.