Close contacts of COVID-19 cases may be able to return to school under Missouri's new mask guidelines - but other factors will still be determined in Cole County schools.
If a school has implemented a mask mandate and appropriate masks were being worn correctly by both individuals during the time of exposure at school, the individual who came in contact with the person with COVID-19 is allowed to return to school, according to new guidance from Gov. Mike Parson's office and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The guidance establishes a minimum baseline for local public health authorities to use, according to DESE. Local public health agencies can establish more stringent guidance if they choose.
The Cole County Health Department and contact tracers working with Cole County schools will continue to evaluate each situation and determine if close contacts should quarantine on a case-by-case basis, said Chezney Schulte, the department's communicable disease coordinator.
"Factors such as distance between two people, duration of exposure, symptoms of the positive case, and whether the exposure was inside or outside will continue to be considered in addition to the use of masks," she said.
Close contacts are still required to quarantine outside of school even when both the positive case and the close contact were properly wearing masks, according to DESE. Close contacts are also not allowed to participate in sports or extracurricular activities.
The Jefferson City School District, Blair Oaks R-2 School District and Helias Catholic High School have required masks when social distancing is not possible since the beginning of the school year.
People who remain more than 6 feet apart are not considered close contacts.
Some Mid-Missouri school districts, including Cole County R-1 in Russellville, Osage County R-3 (Fatima) in Westphalia, Morgan County R-2 in Versailles and St. Elizabeth R-4, have implemented mask mandates so they can follow the new guidance.
The Cole County R-5 School District in Eugene is also following the guidelines and providing masks to students, according to a post on the district's Facebook page.
The Osage County Health Department requires that the masks be surgical masks for students and staff to not be considered close contacts, so the Fatima district will give students and staff surgical masks to wear each day, according to a letter to families and staff from Superintendent Chuck Woody.
Whether both parties were wearing masks properly at time of exposure will factor into JC Schools' contact tracing investigations, but the district will also continue to look at other variables such as symptoms, length of exposure and proximity of the positive case, according to a letter the district sent to families.
"Our current practice of investigating close contacts to determine their level of exposure and need to quarantine based on a variety of variables, including the proper use of masks, is what is being encouraged for districts across the state," the JC Schools letter states.
As of Thursday, 440 JC Schools students and 65 staff members have been quarantined since school started from being close contacts of COVID-19 cases at school. This doesn't include the number of students and staff who were quarantined due to exposure outside of school.
All Jefferson City middle schools and high schools learned remotely for the week of Nov. 16 because of a significant staffing shortage from teachers being quarantined.
Blair Oaks will allow close contacts to return to school if the guidance was followed and the contact tracers determine it is safe and the best option for a specific case, Superintendent Jim Jones said.
"There isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to contact tracing," he said.
Jones said this guidance creates an additional challenge to the district's contact tracing procedures, but it could help with having too many students and staff in quarantine.
Since the first day of school, about 312 Blair Oaks students have been quarantined, and only three of these students tested positive for COVID-19, Jones said.
Helias is also determining this on a case-by-case basis, and the school nurse is handling contact tracing, Communications Director Sandy Hentges said.
"If she feels like it's someone who still needs to quarantine even though they may fall into those guidelines, then she is still going to have them quarantine," Hentges said.