‘In-school quarantine’ for students exposed to COVID now allowed in Oklahoma schools

Oklahoma students exposed to COVID-19 may not have to quarantine at home.

Schools in the state will temporarily be allowed to quarantine virus-exposed students in school buildings, the state health department announced Wednesday.

From Nov. 30 to Dec. 23, Oklahoma school districts can implement a policy that allows schools to quarantine students in one room who may have been exposed to COVID-19, the health department said.

Previously, if a student was exposed to the virus, they’d be required to do distance learning from home for 14 days, Dr. Jared Taylor, Interim State Epidemiologist, said in a news release.

Students in “in-school quarantine” will also do distance learning, but in a school room under the supervision of school staff, according to the department.

Mustang Public Schools voted Tuesday night to adopt the policy, becoming the first school in Oklahoma to do so. Mustang is a suburb of Oklahoma City.

“We have recognized that some students subject to a 14-day quarantine may have lost many essential benefits schools provide, such as a safe environment with adult supervision, nutritional support, internet and technology resources and easier access to instructor assistance,” Dr. Lance Frye, Oklahoma Commissioner of Health, said.

“Adopting this policy change will help protect students and teachers from COVID-19, while also providing a safe environment and resources needed for students to engage in distance learning during their quarantine period.”

How it works

Schools who opt-in to the policy must follow a number of guidelines set forth by the health department.

Schools must have a room — such as a gymnasium or auditorium — specifically dedicated to quarantined students during school hours, away from the rest of the student body.

Quarantined students are only allowed to leave the room for restroom breaks or “outside time,” the health department said. They’re not allowed to participate in any extracurricular or after-school activities or ride buses to or from school.

Students in in-school quarantine must also wear masks and stay a minimum 6 feet away from other quarantined students. Masks can only be removed while eating.

Students will be tested for COVID-19 a minimum eight times during their quarantine — on days 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 12, and 14 — using a rapid diagnostic test provided to schools by the health department. Schools are required to report results daily.

If a student tests positive, they must leave the quarantine group and immediately enter isolation, the health department said.

After the policy expires on Dec. 23, the health department will review the results to determine if and how often students were infected during the in-school quarantine period.

“This information will be used to inform return-to-school policies for the spring 2021 semester,” the health department said.

Oklahoma added 3,732 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, and 16 deaths, the health department reported. It’s logged more than 184,000 cases since the onset of the pandemic.

Oklahoma is not one of the 37 states to have implemented a state-wide mask mandate, Oklahoma Watch reported.

This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 2:10 PM.