MDHHS Updates School Guidance Quarantine Guidelines, Continues Masking Recommendation

(December 3, 2021 2:28 PM) Today, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) issued streamlined quarantine recommendations for schools designed to help prevent transmission of COVID-19 among the school-aged population while reducing disruptions to in-person learning. In addition to vaccination, which is approved for ages 5 and up, layered prevention measures, including masking, should be put in place for consistent in-person learning to keep kids, staff and families safe. 

MDHHS recommends local health departments and schools work together to quicky isolate COVID-19 cases among students and staff, identify close contacts of those cases, and adopt quarantine policies that reduce the risk of transmission in schools while allowing in-person learning.  When evidence-based prevention measures are utilized, such as vaccination, masking, and testing, students exposed to COVID-19 cases may not have to quarantine at home and can stay in the classroom. 

“Schools have the ability to be safe now that children ages 5 and older can be vaccinated,” said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical executive at MDHHS. “We continue to urge all eligible residents to get the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible as it is our best defense against the virus. Masks, distancing, quarantine and isolation are all additional strategies that keep our schools and public spaces safe.” 

MDHHS continues to recommend universal masking in all K-12 school settings. 

Quarantine and isolation are determined by the local health department and are used as important tools to prevent the spread of disease.  

• You isolate when you are infected with COVID-19 and have tested positive, even if you do not have symptoms. Isolation is used to separate people who are infected with COVID-19 from those who are not infected. 
• You quarantine when you might have been exposed to COVID-19. This is because you might become infected with COVID-19 and could spread COVID-19 to others. 
• Any individual that displays COVID-19 symptoms, regardless of vaccination status, should not attend school and should be tested for COVID-19. 

COVID-19 School Quarantine Guidelines for Asymptomatic Students 

• Fully vaccinated contacts without symptoms do not need to quarantine. 
• Contacts that are not fully vaccinated and do not have symptoms:
• If masking was maintained, contacts can participate in school activities if wearing a mask for 14 days after exposure and using a “Test to Stay” strategy*
• If masking was not maintained, if additional testing and mitigation strategies are used, contacts may participate in school activities at the discretion of the local health d