Ellsworth School Superintendent Barry Cain sent a letter to parents on new COVID19 quarantine guidelines.

Ellsworth Community School District COVID-19 Close Contact Quarantine Guidelines (Effective December 9, 2020)

The Ellsworth Community School District has updated its COVID-19 Close Contact Quarantine Guidance based on the recent recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), and Pierce County Public Health.

It is important to note that all agencies still recommend the 14 day quarantine as the best option to reduce the risk of transmission but the following options are now in place in order to provide more flexibility in many cases. In order to qualify for any of these shorter options the close contact must be without any symptoms.

Updated District COVID-19 Close Contact Guidance (December 9, 2020)

•All staff and students who test positive for COVID-19 must still isolate for 10 days following the onset of symptoms. This has not changed.

•close contact can now end a quarantine after Day 7 (Return Day 8) with a negative COVID-19 test administered no earlier than Day 6 or Day 7 after last exposure to infectious individual. The person must also be symptom free and remain symptom free during daily monitoring for the full 14 days after exposure. No person is able to return without the documentation of the negative test first being received by the District.

•A close contact can now end a quarantine after Day 10 (Return Day 11) without testing if they are symptom free and continue to be symptom free during daily monitoring for the full 14 days.

School District Additions to New Guidance •When entire classrooms are excluded as close contacts, the classroom will be excluded the entire 10 day period to maintain the educational cohort in the online learning program to best serve the classroom as a whole. In this scenario there will not be a 7 day option. This largely takes place at the elementary school level.

•The District also reserves the right to review cases on an individual basis. Cases may require additional measures if in-school spread is evident or there are staffing or educational issues that may arise.

•Anyone returning under this new guidance may be screened at the time of return for symptoms related to COVID-19. If symptoms are present, the person will be excluded from school at that time.

When students or staff seek a COVID-19 test during a quarantine, the PCR test is preferred to a rapid antigen test but both are acceptable. Both require documentation of a negative result prior to returning to school or co-curricular activities. The school district can provide more information regarding testing sites and typical test result time frames upon request.