Department of Health suspends contact tracing in Duval schools

2 years ago 289

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Duval County Public Schools connected Friday sent an email to parents of students, informing them that the Department of Health successful Duval has announced it volition nary longer behaviour interaction tracing of affirmative COVID-19 cases successful schools.

The Department of Health has been doing interaction tracing successful Duval County schools since students returned to classrooms amid the pandemic successful 2020. Contact tracing is done to place others who were successful adjacent interaction with idiosyncratic who received a affirmative COVID diagnosis.

DCPS said successful effect to the DOH’s decision, the territory volition notify families of simple students erstwhile a affirmative lawsuit has been contiguous successful their child’s schoolroom during that week.

Letters volition spell to families astatine the extremity of the schoolhouse time erstwhile the archetypal lawsuit successful a schoolroom is reported. DCPS said the schoolhouse volition lone nonstop 1 missive per people per week notifying parents of a imaginable exposure. If a 2nd lawsuit is reported successful the aforesaid people during the aforesaid week, a 2nd missive volition not spell out.

“Unlike the Department of Health, the territory has nary authorization to nonstop quarantine oregon isolation of perchance exposed people,” the territory writes successful its missive to parents.

The territory volition besides see what it’s calling a “decision tree” to assistance families successful making decisions astir steps to instrumentality based connected whether their children are showing symptoms of the virus.

Some parents are divided connected the alteration to interaction tracing. A News4JAX Facebook commenter wrote: “I got calls each time and loved it due to the fact that I knew however galore cases were successful his school. He conscionable got 1 successful his class. I deliberation they should inactive bash it.”

Laurel Martinez is the genitor of a Duval County student.

“For my household, I don’t truly deliberation interaction tracing is necessary,” Martinez said. “At this point, we’ve been successful this pandemic for truthful long, I mean, who has not been exposed?”

Duval County Public Schools connected Friday sent an email to parents of students, informing them that the Department of Health successful Duval has announced it volition nary longer behaviour interaction tracing of affirmative COVID-19 cases successful schools.

DCPS said notifying parents connected a schoolroom ground is lone for simple students “because simple students thin to acquisition schoolhouse with much constricted vulnerability to different children and teachers.”

DCPS said due to the fact that students successful mediate and precocious schools alteration classes passim the day, school-based notifications are the champion mode to stock affirmative lawsuit information. It volition proceed notifying families by updating the district’s COVID-19 dashboard online.

The territory said students who are symptomatic of the virus, oregon who person received a affirmative COVID trial should proceed avoiding schoolhouse grounds and school-sponsored activities until:

The pupil receives a antagonistic diagnostic COVID-19 trial and is asymptomatic; or
Ten days person passed since the onset of symptoms oregon affirmative trial result, the pupil has had nary fever for 24 hours and the student’s different symptoms are improving; or
The pupil receives written support to instrumentality to schoolhouse from a aesculapian doc licensed nether section 458, an osteopathic doc licensed nether section 459, oregon an precocious registered caregiver practitioner licensed nether section 464.

DCPS nots that if an worker oregon pupil is simply a adjacent interaction to a COVID-19 case, they bash not request to quarantine if they are asymptomatic, careless of vaccination status.