Quarantine, Isolation Guidelines Updated At Fairfax County Schools

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — After a week of closures attributed to winter weather impacts, Fairfax County Public Schools students returned Monday following winter break. New guidelines with shorter COVID-19 isolation and quarantine were adopted as students returned.

FCPS adopted most of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines with shorter isolation and quarantine periods. Quarantine refers to staying home and away from others due to exposure to COVID-19. Isolation means staying home and away from others due to testing positive for COVID-19 or showing symptoms.

The new guidelines were outlined in a message to families Sunday. The school district will implement a five-day isolation period for staff but not students. CDC recommends ending isolation five days if the person is fever-free for 24 hours without using fever-reducing medication and symptoms are improving. Isolation may also be ended give days later if symptoms did not develop. Wearing a mask around others is recommended in the five days after isolation ends. A full 10-day isolation is recommended for those who are severely ill with COVID-19.

FCPS chose to keep the 10-day isolation for students as it is unable to provide physical distancing during meals. The CDC guidance recommends an infected person wear a mask around others in their home or in public for the 10 days since the positive test or symptoms developed.

For quarantines, FCPS will implement a five-day period of quarantine for students and staff. For students with a school-related COVID-19 exposure, they can return after five days if they're asymptomatic, able to wear a face mask at school for the next five days, and show the FCPS pause letter with the return date. The other option is 10 days of quarantine, which students with a mask exemption will have to follow.

Students who are fully vaccinated, wear a face mask and are asymptomatic can complete the Fairfax County Health Department vaccination survey and receive a clearance email to return to in-person learning.

For a student deemed a close contact in an exposure outside school, return to school documentation is no longer required. The school district recommends quarantine guidance from the Fairfax County Health Department.

The Fairfax County Health Department had announced last week it would no longer provide clearance letters for return to work or school due to rising COVID-19 cases in the Fairfax Health District. The health department urges employers and schools to implement the CDC's updated guidance, as FCPS did.

The latest information can be found on the FCPS Health and Safety Guidance web page.