INGLESIDE, Texas — Guidelines for isolation when someone has COVID-19 may soon by changing.
In a report published in The Washington Post this week, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said five days would no longer be the recommended amount of time. It would be the first time those isolation recommendations were loosened since 2021.
The CDC plans to advise using clinical symptoms to determine when to stop isolation when someone is positive for COVID, according to the report.
Local school officials explained their COVID guidelines are in line with the Texas Education Agency and CDC.
"We haven't actually had any updates to that since August of 2022, so, that's the last time that we had received any guidance from those agencies," said Kelsey Picou, director of communications and community at Ingleside Independent School District. "So, that's why it's still the practices that we follow to this day."
Picou said any new CDC recommendations would be passed on by the TEA to their district. With almost 2,000 students enrolled there, she said safety for them is a top priority, and the district wants to make sure they are following safety and health guidelines.
"I'm sure that as soon as CDC were to push out any new recommendations, the TEA would follow as suit and communicate that with school districts so we could follow the most up-to-date information," Picou said.
According to the report, the CDC's new approach regarding COVID isolation recommendations means people would not have to stay home if they are fever-free for at least 24 hours without aid from medication. They also need to have mild, improving symptoms.
3NEWS also checked in with Corpus Christi Independent School District, who shared in a statement that they follow guidance set by the TEA, and that would also go for any updates to isolation protocols.
The statement reads, in part, "At this time, our procedure will remain at 5 days of isolation from the onset of symptoms or the date of the positive test result. Students and staff may return to campus following the 5 day isolation period with an improvement in symptoms and 24 hours fever free without the use of fever reducing medication."
Public charter schools like Richard Milburn Academy also said if the CDC changes recommendations for isolation, it could factor into their policies. Reanin Garcia, RMA student and community liaison, said staff there must wait five days and students must be 24 hours fever-free before they can come back to school.
"We always try and keep our students and our staff safe. We definitely don't want them here if they're sick," Garcia said. "We are a small school, so we definitely will go with the guidelines that they choose for us at the CDC."
Texas Department of State Health Services told 3NEWS they have no isolation recommendations for the general public. Since COVID is still on the list of diseases that would keep kids out of school, they are required to stay home until five days after symptoms started.
The agency added, they will be evaluating whether that should change for next school year.
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