{"id":50665,"date":"2021-09-25T00:56:28","date_gmt":"2021-09-25T04:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=50665"},"modified":"2021-09-25T00:56:36","modified_gmt":"2021-09-25T04:56:36","slug":"students-exposed-to-covid-can-still-go-to-school-if-asymptomatic-floridas-new-surgeon-general-issues-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2021\/09\/students-exposed-to-covid-can-still-go-to-school-if-asymptomatic-floridas-new-surgeon-general-issues-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"Students exposed to COVID can still go to school if asymptomatic, Florida\u2019s new Surgeon General Issues rule"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In his first full day as the Florida Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo<\/a> signed a new emergency rule for how Florida\u2019s schools handle COVID-19 on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The new emergency rule, 64DER21-15, covers the changes to the state\u2019s emergency rules in school settings and addresses mitigation methods for COVID-19. The rule also dips into mask policies in Florida\u2019s schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The big takeaway from the new rule, now in effect, is that if students are exposed to someone with COVID-19, and they remain asymptomatic, they can continue to go to school and school activities. Additionally, the order does not require that those who come into contact with a COVID-positive individual be tested for the virus themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means that, effectively, if a student is in contact with someone with COVID, if they don\u2019t present symptoms, they won\u2019t have to stay home and they won\u2019t have to be tested. It is unclear how this will affect the spread of COVID-19 in schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New protocols, no symptoms, no testing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new rule by the Surgeon General does go into some detail about updated protocols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the text of the order, the new procedures for schools focuses on encouraging mitigation, not enforcing it, as far as \u201croutine cleaning of classrooms and high-traffic areas\u201d and having students \u201cpractice routine handwashing throughout the day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new emergency rule does say that students will stay home if they are sick, and allows schools to adopt mask requirements. Still, \u201cthe school must allow for a parent or legal guardian of the student to opt the student out of wearing a face covering or mask at the parent or legal guardian\u2019s sole discretion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The order also outlines what direct contact is, relating to exposure to COVID-19, defined as \u201ccumulative exposure for at least 15 minutes, within 6 feet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For symptomatic or COVID-19 positive students, the new rule contains protocols for how to handle school activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cSchools will ensure students experiencing any symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or who have received a positive diagnostic test for COVID-19 shall not attend school, school-sponsored activities, or be on school property,\u201d the rule says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protocols are effective for COVID-positive students until they have received a negative diagnostic test and is asymptomatic, or if it has been 10 days since the onset of symptoms or positive test results and that the student has not had a fever for 24 hours, and symptoms are improving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the student must receive written permission to return to school from a medical doctor licensed under chapter 458<\/a>, an osteopathic physician licensed under chapter 459<\/a>, or an advanced registered nurse practitioner licensed under chapter 464<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are further protocols for students who are exposed to COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schools will have to allow parents or guardians the authority to choose how their students receive their education after being in contact with someone who is COVID-19 positive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should their student be exposed to COVID-19, parents will be able to choose if their student will continue to attend school, school-sponsored activities, or be on campus \u201cwithout restrictions or disparate treatment\u201d as long as they\u2019re asymptomatic, or parents can choose to quarantine a student for no longer than seven days from when they were in direct contact with someone who is COVID-19 positive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the student becomes symptomatic after being exposed to COVID-19 by someone with the virus, or tests positive for the virus, they will be subject to protocols for COVID-19 positive students and prevented from being on campus, going to school events, or being in school until they test negative for COVID and is asymptomatic, or 10 days have passed since symptoms began and they have not had a fever for 24 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now signed by Dr. Ladapo as the State Surgeon General, the rule is immediately in effect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his first full day as the Florida Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo signed a new emergency rule for how Florida\u2019s schools handle COVID-19 on campus. The new emergency rule, 64DER21-15,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":50592,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[720,719],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50665"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50665"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50666,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50665\/revisions\/50666"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}