Schools will no longer need to follow the Ohio Department of Health’s Mask to Stay and Test to Play school guidelines for quarantining after COVID exposures.
Now the state health department recommends an exposed person stay home and monitor their symptoms.
Dan Suffoletto, a spokesperson for Public Health-Dayton & Montgomery County, said the Ohio Department of Health and CDC now recommend precautions based on a community's transmission rate.
“They're tying it to what the community level is in your particular area,” Suffoletto said. “So they still have the low, medium and high levels, and they're looking at these as broad recommendations that will fluctuate as the levels may change in your community.”
It is now up to an individual school district whether to require masks or not, even if the high community transmission level is high, according to Suffoletto.
The best precautions are to stay up-to-date on vaccines and stay home in case any symptoms come up, he said.
“All of these things together are a layered approach. So there's not one particular thing that in and of itself is going to stop the spread of COVID or keep you 100% safe. Nothing's 100%,” he said. “But the more things you can do, all of these things layered together will keep you as safe as possible. “
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