COVID-19 Exposure: When Students Must Quarantine, Isolate

OHIO — When Ohio drops its COVID-19 health protocols on June 2, vaccinated school children will not longer have to quarantine or be tested after a COVID-19 exposure.

Gov. Mike DeWine announced changes to the state's COVID-19 quarantine policies for students this week. He clarified that unvaccinated children will still need to be isolated and quarantined if they're exposed to the virus.

Here's when unvaccinated children must quarantine or isolate:

• Quarantine — If the exposure took place outside of a masks-required classroom.
• Isolation — If a child tests positive for COVID-19.

Local health departments should make the ultimate determination if quarantine or isolation should occur, DeWine's office said.

"While these are not state health orders, isolation and quarantine are standard infection control practices that have been used successfully for hundreds of years," DeWine said. "These practices are the same practices that are used for many other communicable diseases including measles and mumps."

Individual schools and districts will craft their own mask and social distancing policies for the next school year, DeWine said.