The Department of Health has announced special testing requirements for students, teachers, and staff. The requirements include exemptions for people with pre-existing medical conditions and alternate diagnosis by a healthcare professional.
Who needs to test:
- Anyone with new or worsening symptoms of COVID19, regardless of vaccination status, must either
- provide a negative Rapid or PCR COVID test result, OR
- be excluded from school and school activities for a minimum of 10 calendar days from symptom onset.
- If symptoms are improving AND they are fever free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medicines, they may return to school with either:
- a note from the healthcare provider indicating the test was negative OR
- a copy of the negative test result.
Who doesn't need to test:
- Individuals with pre-existing medical conditions (e.g., migraines, allergies) whose symptoms are not new or worsening;
- Individuals whose healthcare professional provides a written diagnosis of a known chronic condition with unchanged symptoms, or a confirmed acute illness (examples: laboratory-confirmed influenza, strep-throat) AND COVID-19 is not suspected. Such individuals may participate in school activities based on the guidelines for that diagnosis.
- Asymptomatic individuals exposed to COVID-19 who are fully vaccinated or have been previously diagnosed with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 and have since recovered within the past three (3) months.