Sick St. Paul students still face 10-day isolation as CDC calls for 5

Josh Verges, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
·3 min read

Jan. 18—In a break with new federal guidelines, St. Paul Public Schools will continue to require coronavirus-infected students to isolate at home for 10 days after a positive test or first sign of illness.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Dec. 27 shortened its recommended isolation time from 10 days to five. After that, the recovering person can leave isolation, as long as they're not experiencing symptoms and agree to wear a well-fitting face mask for five days.

Since their release, the guidelines have been adopted by at least a dozen of Minnesota's largest school districts — but not St. Paul.

"SPPS is taking a more conservative approach to isolation periods for students than the CDC recommendation because of the need for students to be unmasked during meals and other implementation challenges at school," the district said in a message to families Friday.

Spokesman Kevin Burns did not respond Monday to a request for more information about "implementation challenges."

10 DAY ISOLATION

The St. Paul Federation of Educators had encouraged the district to stick with 10-day isolation for students and staff — or to require two negative rapid diagnostic tests for those returning sooner.

Although the St. Paul district kept the 10-day rule for students, staff now are to return after five days. That should help with staff shortages that have caused several metro school districts to move temporarily to distance learning.

St. Paul teachers union President Leah VanDassor did not return a phone message Monday.

The Elk River school district was among those adopting the new five-day isolation protocol for students and staff.

"We know this news will bring relief to many of our families as it reduces the amount of instruction time our students will miss," the district said in a message to families. "However, we must continue to move forward with caution and to refrain from sending students to school while sick (even if they have passed the five-day quarantine period)."

COMPETING GOALS

The CDC said in its announcement that the change to shorter isolations was "motivated by science demonstrating that the majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the 1-2 days prior to onset of symptoms and the 2-3 days after."

The agency also acknowledged that taking sick people out of society for 10 days is hard on individuals and society, especially at a time when the highly contagious omicron variant is taking over.

"These updated recommendations also facilitate individual social and well-being needs, return to work, and maintenance of critical infrastructure," the CDC said on its website.

The change alarmed some health experts, who said it seemed driven less by science than practicality.

Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, told ABC News on Jan. 2 that the CDC was considering adding the requirement that recovering people test negative before they leave isolation. But the CDC update ultimately did not include that requirement.

Besides the shorter isolation period for infected people, the CDC also shortened its recommended quarantine to five days — from 10 — for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people who come into close contact with an infected person.

DISTRICTS MOVE TO 5 DAYS

Since the CDC's announcement, many large Minnesota school districts have adopted the five-day isolation for sick students and staff. They include Anoka-Hennepin, Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan, Osseo, Elk River, Robbinsdale, Wayzata, Mounds View, Lakeville, Bloomington, St. Cloud and Eastern Carver County.