![]() Maintaining the capacity to test symptomatic students at school as needed is a helpful mitigation strategy. The CDC recommends testing for students in school to reduce the transmission of COVID-19.Vaccinations are available throughout Delaware County - visit or the Delaware County COVID 19 vaccination website for more information.Vaccinated people can still be infected and spread the virus to others, but symptoms tend to be milder. Those who have completed their primary series (and a booster when eligible) are at a reduced risk of experiencing severe illness or death from COVID-19. Promoting vaccination within communities is one of the most important strategies for reducing the transmission of infectious diseases, including COVID-19.Additional precautions may be needed for people at high risk for severe illness.If you are at high risk for severe illness, talk to your healthcare provider about whether you need to wear a mask and take other precautions.Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines.Schools and childcare programs can stay up to date with community levels through the CDC webpage: CDC encourages schools and childcare programs to follow prevention steps based on their community risk levels. Protection against COVID-19 is essential in school and childcare settings.However, students and staff who identify as close contacts should follow the recommendations to wear a well-fitting mask for ten days and get tested following their exposure. This means students and staff can continue attend school activities if they are determined to be a close contact. Per current CDC guidelines, people do not need to quarantine if they come into close contact with someone who has COVID-19.Quick guides for isolation and quarantine in early care and education programs can be found here.Isolation and quarantine guidance for the general population can be found here.Schools and childcare programs may reach out to DCHD directly for technical support via and are strongly encouraged to do so if a the number of cases in teachers/staff and/or students begin to significantly impact the learning environment.DCHD strongly encourages schools and childcare programs to notify families and staff when clusters or concerning trends are identified to empower individuals and families to choose to take their own mitigative steps (masking, testing).If DCHD identifies a COVID cluster based on surveillance data, DCHD will reach out to the school or childcare program to provide technical assistance. For the 2022-2023 school year, DCHD plans to monitor existing school COVID-19 surveillance data reported to the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PADOH) and Project ACE-IT. ![]() Schools and childcare programs do not need to report COVID-19 cases directly to the DCHD. The survey should be submitted by 5:00 PM on Fridays. If a school does not have any new cases within the reporting period, a survey does not need to be submitted. Schools should submit aggregate case numbers on a weekly basis using the short survey on PDE's Future Ready Comprehensive Planning Portal (FRCPP). Consistent with practice during the 2021-2022 school year, Delaware County K-12 schools should continue to report COVID case data to the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PADOH) through the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE).COVID-19 Reporting and Surveillance in Schools and Childcare Programs DCHD may need to change this approach and update this information as the COVID-19 environment continues to evolve. The information on this page is best practice guidance for school districts and childcare programs when creating and updating their health and safety plans. DCHD’s requirement for K-12 schools is to continue the COVID-19 case reporting to the state that was conducted last year. DCHD is available for technical assistance as facilities develop and update their plans, and for support during disease clusters or outbreaks. In the case of COVID-19, the addition and layering of COVID-19-specific prevention strategies should be tied to COVID-19 Community Levels.Įach school district and/or childcare program will develop their own health and safety policy and protocols to share with their families. Schools and daycare programs should put in place a core set of infectious disease prevention strategies as part of their normal operations. The following is information based on the most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania guidance. Our role as a health department is to offer support and resources for these organizations to adopt as part of their facility health and safety plans for prevention and mitigation of disease transmission. The Delaware County Health Department (DCHD) is committed to the health and safety of the families and staff members in schools and childcare environments.
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