Frequently Asked Questions: COVID-19 and Schools

Frequently Asked Questions: COVID-19 and Schools
What can schools do to support safe, in-person learning?
In July 2021, the State of Minnesota rolled out an updated guidance document, Best Practice Recommendations for COVID-19 Prevention in Schools for the 2021-22 School Year that emphasized layered prevention strategies. This means using multiple prevention strategies consistently to reduce COVID-19 spread. Among the recommendations:
• ▪ All people eligible for COVID-19 vaccination should get vaccinated.
• ▪ All students, teachers, staff, and visitors in school buildings should wear masks indoors
regardless of vaccination status.
• ▪ Schools should maintain at least 3 feet of distance between students within classrooms whenever possible.
• ▪ Students, teachers, and staff should stay home if they have signs of any infectious illness and should contact their health care provider for testing and care.
• ▪ Students, teachers, and staff who have been fully vaccinated do not need to stay home even if they have had recent close contact with a confirmed case, so long as they remain asymptomatic and do not test positive. Follow CDC testing guidance for anyone exposed to a confirmed case.
• ▪ People not fully vaccinated and returning to in-person school, sports, or extracurricular activities (and their families) should get tested regularly for COVID-19 as advised by CDC.
• ▪ Schools should continue to maintain rapid and thorough contact tracing in combination with isolation and quarantine, make or maintain ventilation improvements, promote handwashing and covering coughs, and conduct routine cleaning and disinfection. These layers of prevention help reduce the potential for spread in the school setting.
While there is no longer a state requirement that schools follow this guidance, these measures are important and represent the most current science-based best practices for safe in-person learning. The recommendations are designed to support local school boards and school leaders as they make policy decisions and help maximize the chances for in-person learning.
The Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, representing 1,000 pediatricians across the state, supports these recommendations and recognizes the importance of in-person learning for our state’s students.
What’s the bottom line on masks as a prevention tool?
The American Academy of Pediatrics has a helpful Mask Mythbusters: Common Questions about Kids & Face Masks website that addresses potential questions parents might have around masks for children.
The bottom line is that masking reduces transmission of COVID-19. Your mask protects you and those around you. One person wearing a mask indoors is good protection. A classroom or school full of people wearing masks is better protection. Masking is an excellent complementary measure in addition to vaccinations, and universal indoor masking is particularly valuable in settings that include people who are not vaccinated.
If COVID-19 is generally less severe in young, healthy people, why does it matter if they get vaccinated?
Earlier this year the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a document titled COVID-19 Guidance for Safe Schools and Promotion of In-Person Learning in which the organization and its members called for all eligible people to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
While it is generally true that severe cases of COVID-19 are more likely in older people and those with underlying health conditions, that is not always the case. From July 1 – Oct. 26, there were more than 45,200 pediatric cases of COVID-19 and more than 300 child hospitalizations related to COVID-19 in Minnesota. For much of this autumn, pediatric ICU beds have been filled near capacity by children sick with COVID-19 or other illnesses. We can’t predict which child will have severe illness, so prevention through vaccination is the best protection.
It is also important to remember that COVID-19 can also have long-term consequences. More than 100 Minnesota children have been diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), a rare but serious inflammatory condition associated with COVID-19.
While a previous case of COVID-19 may provide some protection, recent analysis of data from 187 hospitals in the United States found that unvaccinated people with prior COVID-19 infections were 5.5 times more likely than fully vaccinated people to develop COVID-19.
Fortunately, Minnesota children age 5 and up are now able to get vaccinated and benefit from that vital layer of protection against COVID-19. Getting your child vaccinated gives you reassurance that your child is well-protected from the worst impacts of COVID-19. Getting your child vaccinated also protects other family members, friends, and neighbors.
Are the vaccines safe?
The American Academy of Pediatrics has developed The Science Behind COVID-19 Vaccines: Parent FAQs See here. To summarize, tens of thousands of volunteers participated in clinical trials and those trials showed that the COVID-19 vaccines are remarkably safe and effective.
More than 11 million kids – nearly half of all children in the U.S. between ages 12 and 17 – have been fully vaccinated. Most side effects were mild and short-lived. In fact, common, mild reactions were less common in the 5- to 11-year-olds in the clinical trial compared 16- to 25- year-olds. More serious effects such as a severe allergic reaction have been extremely rare.
When assessing potential risks, it is very important to keep in mind that there are potentially serious risks associated with COVID-19 infection. About 25% of COVID pediatric deaths have occurred in healthy children. Common underlying conditions that many kids have, like asthma and obesity, can put kids at an even greater risk of severe illness. And while many young people who test positive for COVID-19 have mild symptoms, some experience symptoms more than a month after they've been infected. Several post-COVID conditions have been identified in kids, including recurring symptoms referred to as “long COVID.” COVID-19 vaccines are the best way to protect against COVID-19 and long COVID.
What should people do if they are exposed to a COVID-19 case?
If you are fully vaccinated and have been exposed to someone with COVID-19:
• ▪ You do NOT need to quarantine after contact with someone who had COVID-19 unless you have symptoms.
• ▪ It’s best to get tested 5-7 days after exposure, even if you don’t have symptoms.
• ▪ Mask indoors in public for 14 days after exposure or until your test result is negative.
If you are not vaccinated and have been exposed to someone with COVID-19:
• ▪ Stay home 14 days after your last contact with a person who has COVID-19. A shortened quarantine period is possible in some cases.
• ▪ Watch for fever (100.4◦F), cough, shortness of breath, or other symptoms of COVID-19.
• ▪ If possible, stay away from people you live with, especially people at higher risk.
• ▪ If you have symptoms, immediately self-isolate and get tested.
Winter in Minnesota means cold-and-flu season. What should people do if they have symptoms of a respiratory illness?
People with COVID-19 report a wide range of symptoms, from mild to severe. Some COVID-19 symptoms overlap with those of other infections such as the common cold and influenza. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus, and they may include:
• ▪ Fever or chills
• ▪ Cough
• ▪ Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• ▪ Fatigue
• ▪ Headaches, muscle or body aches
• ▪ New loss of taste or smell
• ▪ Sore throat
• ▪ Congestion or runny nose
• ▪ Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea
If you or a family member develop any of these symptoms, the best way to know if it is COVID- 19 is to get tested. Until you have the test result, stay home and avoid close contact with others including those in your own household.