The Trigg County School System released updated COVID-19 guidelines Wednesday as the state experiences a record number of cases due to the Omicron variant.
Last month, the Trigg County School Board voted in favor of a tiered option on masking tied to the county’s weekly incidence rate. Since then, Trigg County has remained a ‘red’ county with students and staff required to mask indoors at all times.
If Trigg County moves to an ‘orange’ county, students and staff will be required to mask when on the move — particularly in hallways — but can remove them while indoors and stationary.
Trigg County also began a “test-to-stay” policy on January 2, which provided the district with state-organized and state-paid COVID-19 swabbing by trained officials for students and faculty.
The new guidelines announced Wednesday say students and staff who test positive for COVID-19 will be required to quarantine for at least 5 days or until their symptoms resolve.
Students and staff who are in close contact with a positive case in the community or at home have the option to test at school as long as they are not showing symptoms. Students and staff who choose not to participate in Test to Stay, from a home or community exposure, must quarantine at home for 5 days from the date of exposure.
Students and staff will be required to wear masks, socially distance, and continue to follow all other COVID-19 prevention strategies.
Students and staff who are close contacts at school will be given the option to Test to Stay, but are not required to quarantine.
The CDC defines close contacts in a K-12 setting as persons who have been closer than 3 feet to an infected individual for 15 cumulative minutes or more.
Students and staff who are NOT closer than 3 feet or more to an infected individual for 15 cumulative minutes or more are not considered close contacts.
Parents were made aware of the updated guidelines through a one-call from the board of education. The full text of the updated guidelines can be found on the Trigg County School District’s website.
