Note: This help topic is out of date and currently archived.
Update: Jan. 9, 2022
HCPSS recently made adjustments to its contact tracing process to ensure we are meeting legal requirements to provide accurate and timely data to the health department while supporting our students and staff who test positive. HCPSS will continue the current processes for students who test positive by sending names and addresses to the Howard County Health Department, making personal contacts with families of students with COVID, and gathering information about cohorts where there are multiple cases of positive students.
Full details on contact tracing may be found online.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a recommendation to shorten quarantine duration to five days. This recommendation was adopted by the Howard County Health Department (HCHD) and detailed in the Dec. 31, 2021, message to the community and staff.
In alignment with guidelines provided by HCHD for positive cases, all students and staff who test positive for COVID or are showing symptoms must be isolated for 5 days regardless of vaccination status and may not return to school until:
- They have been out at least 5 days from the onset of symptoms or upon receiving a positive test without symptoms, and
- Remain fever-free for 24 hours, and
- Show a consistent improvement of symptoms.
Also in alignment with HCHD guidelines, you should quarantine if:
- You are ages 18 or older and completed the primary series of recommended vaccine, but have not received a recommended booster when eligible.
- You are not vaccinated or have not completed a primary vaccine series.
If you came into close contact with someone with COVID-19, you do not need to quarantine if you have received all recommended vaccine doses, including boosters when eligible.
It also is recommended that all individuals get tested 5 days after exposure, regardless of whether they are exhibiting symptoms. The Howard County Health Department treats positive cases in the prekindergarten program as it would a daycare setting, closing the affected classrooms for a minimum of 5 days. Additional details on how positive cases of COVID-19 in a prekindergarten classroom are handled can be found online.