Waukesha County Amends K-12 Quarantine Guidelines

WAUKESHA COUNTY, WI—Waukesha County announced on Thursday it will immediately amend quarantine guidelines for K-12 schools.

However, the county will continue to commit to other COVID-19 mitigation efforts, including mask-wearing, according to Waukesha County officials.

Observations from local in-person learning have found very few cases of transmission after COVID-19 exposures in schools, the county said.

“We are utilizing information collected in our schools and others across the country to make informed decisions,” Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow said in a statement. “These efforts were never meant to be in place forever, and now the data is showing that it’s time to gradually peel back these layers to so we can begin to safely return to normal.”

Quarantine guidelines will relax to allow students and adults possibly exposed to COVID-19 in school settings to continue in-person learning, if the following conditions are met:

• The school has committed to COVID-19 prevention policies, which include the following: mask wearing, implementing strategies to maximize distance between students, handwashing, ventilation, and management of students exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19.
• Close contacts remain symptom-free and agree to self-monitor for symptoms a full 14 days following exposure. Close contacts will immediately remove themselves from the school environment if symptoms develop.
• Close contacts strongly consider getting tested on day 6 or 7 after exposure to help identify asymptomatic spread.

The guidelines only apply to exposures occurring in school settings when mitigation efforts are in place. Unvaccinated students should not attend in-person school or participate in organized sports or extracurriculars if their COVID-19 exposure occurred outside of a school setting. Fully vaccinated students who are 14 days past their last dose of the vaccine are not required to quarantine due to any exposure if they remain symptom free, the county said.

Waukesha County Public Health will evaluate the impact of relaxed guidelines on transmission in local schools throughout the summer and with consideration of the 2021/22 school year.

Vaccination is key to stopping the spread of COVID-19 in the community.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is currently approved for teens 16 and older and could be approved for children 12 and older in the near future. Parents should help children of those ages get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect their families and to allow schools to resume normal activities, the county said.

Fully vaccinated individuals do not need to quarantine after any exposure that occurs 14 days after their final dose of vaccine.

Right now, 32.9% of 16- and 17-year-olds in Waukesha County have at least one dose of vaccine. However, higher numbers need to be achieved to prevent breakouts in this age group, the county said.