The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is instituting new protocols for staff and students who test positive for COVID-19. The protocols state that those who test positive and have not experienced any symptoms of illness may chose an option to end isolation and return to work or school on Day 6. Students and staff must follow the KPBSD Monitor, Mask and Return protocols to return to school or work.
Pegge Erkeneff, Director of Communications, Community and Government Relations for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District told KSRM:
“It’s called Monitor, Mask and Return. This is only for people who have never had any symptoms. So, they test positive, but they didn’t have symptoms. What they can do is, day zero is the day of the positive test. So, on day six they can return to school or work and wear a well-fitting face covering or mask through day ten. They have to be symptom free from illness because we have our symptom free school, and they can come back on day six.”
Erkeneff adds:
“It doesn’t matter if you’ve had COVID before or if you’re vaccinated. This is around anybody who tests positive for COVID-19 and needs to go into isolation. Their isolation can end on day six if they’ve never had symptoms when they had COVID and they can come back. Now, the CDC has some different guidelines, but right now, we’re starting with it this way and we’re working closely with public health and may revise this protocol over the next few weeks and include more people, but right now, it’s only if somebody’s never experienced symptoms.”
With the rise of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the KPBSD is expecting a rise in cases:
“We are and we’re already starting to see that. I believe at least two schools, not in Central Peninsula will go to universal masking starting tomorrow (Thursday) with cases. Everybody’s back from break. Omicron is here. We need to do everything we can and fortunately it sounds like the symptoms and illness isn’t as bad, but there’s a sheer number of people that are getting sick and so that’s going to affect our healthcare capacity, our ability to have staff at school.”
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