Chester County Health Department cancels quarantines and contact tracing – Daily Local

DOWNINGTOWN – The Chester County Health Department has issued new guidelines for schools regarding contact tracing and quarantining, as the incidence rate and percent positivity rate for COVID continue to climb in arrow.

Effective immediately, K-12 schools are no longer allowed to issue quarantines and must stop contact tracing. Anyone placed in quarantine prior to term must complete the full quarantine period before returning to school.

“As CCIU is stopping contact tracing, we will no longer notify individuals or students in classrooms if they are in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19,” said George F Fiore, CCIU Executive Director. “These communications will no longer be sent to families.”

In the past four weeks, Chester County’s COVID-19 incidence rate and percent positivity have more than doubled. The Chester County Health Department reported higher community transmission compared to previous surges due to virus variants such as Delta and Omicron, holidays and social gatherings.

“During this period of significant transmission, more and more people in the community are testing positive, with multiple opportunities for exposure, and sometimes exposure happens without even knowing it, if someone we interact with is positive, but asymptomatic,” according to a statement released by the Chester County Health Department. “These factors make it very difficult to determine how and where individuals may have been infected.”

With the new mandate, students and school staff with COVID-19-like symptoms should not come to school unless they have a negative COVID test result or have seen their health care provider. The Ministry of Health recommends that anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 contact the people they have been in contact with.

Currently, health department officials are working to ensure vaccination and testing opportunities exist throughout Chester County to reduce the severity of infection and reduce the burden on hospitals and healthcare providers. health. The Department of Health works closely with local organizations serving high-risk populations who experience outbreaks, to help minimize the impact of the outbreak.

The Chester County Health Department will now prioritize positive COVID-19 case investigations for those who are not currently eligible for a vaccine and people who are at risk of serious illness from COVID-19 in because of their age.

With the current level of community transmission and following recent CDC updates to isolation and quarantine guidelines, contact tracing is becoming less and less effective as a tool to disrupt the spread of infection. for our entire Chester County community, health department officials said. The focus is on contact tracing in child care centres, health care facilities, congregate settings and correctional facilities.