December 7th Update

The Georgia Department of Public Health updated their guidelines for quarantine on December 4, 2020. Catoosa County Public Schools will follow the updated guidelines as follows:

Symptomatic persons who are not healthcare personnel with confirmed or suspected COVID-19
can return to work/school after:

• At least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared and
• At least 24 hours have passed since last fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and
• Symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath) have improved

Asymptomatic persons who are not health care personnel with confirmed COVID-19 can return to work/school after:

• At least 10 days† have passed since the positive laboratory test and the person remains
asymptomatic
• Note, if you later develop symptoms, you should follow the guidance for symptomatic
persons above.

Persons who have been exposed to to someone who tested positive may return to work/school as follows:

After 7 full days have passed since your most recent exposure occurred, if you fulfill
all THREE of the following criteria:

1. Are tested for COVID-19,
The test should be a diagnostic test (PCR or antigen) and the specimen
for your test may not be collected more than 48 hours before the time of
planned quarantine discontinuation. If you plan to discontinue quarantine
after 7 full days, this means you should not have a sample collected for a
test until after you have completed 5 full days of quarantine

2. Receive a negative result,
You may not discontinue quarantine until you have completed a
minimum of 7 full days since your most recent exposure, even if you
receive your negative test result earlier. If your result is positive, you must follow DPH isolation guidance https://dph.georgia.gov/isolation-contact

3. Do not experience any symptoms during your monitoring period

After 10 full days have passed since your most recent exposure occurred, if you fulfill
BOTH of the following criteria:

1. Are NOT tested for COVID-19
Do not experience any symptoms during your monitoring period

2. If you discontinue quarantine prior to 14 days, you should continue to monitor your health and follow mitigation strategies until 14 days after your most recent exposure and isolate immediately if symptoms develop. Mitigation strategies that should be practiced include correct and consistent mask use, social distancing, hand and cough hygiene, environmental cleaning and disinfection, avoiding crowds, and ensuring adequate indoor ventilation.