“Test-to-stay” policy endorsed by CDC, but local parents aren’t sold yet

CHARLOTTE — When classes return to session after the holidays, schools may have a new option for keeping children in the classroom despite rising COVID-19 rates.

Currently, most schools immediately enact a 10-day quarantine for any student exposed to a positive COVID-19 case, but on Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it now has the research showing that may not be necessary for all students -- even those who aren’t vaccinated.

The new “test-to-stay” policy would permit a return to the classroom after two negative tests during a seven-day period, as long as the student continues to test negative.

“In the test-to-stay protocol, there is increased testing of close contacts after a COVID-19 exposure,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday at a White House COVID-19 Response Team news briefing. “If exposed children meet a certain criteria and continue to test negative, they can stay in school instead of quarantining at home.”

Channel 9′s DaShawn Brown spoke with parents who were on the fence about the updated testing policy.

“With the new strain and variant that’s out, that’s hard to really say,” Reggie Rahmings said Friday night.

According to CDC data, school districts in Los Angeles and Chicago have both used a test-to-stay policy and neither reported an increase in infections.

In Illinois, districts still required prevention measures like masking and repeat testing and were able to keep more than 1,000 students who were close contacts in the classroom. In total, more than 8,000 in-person learning days were saved.

“I mean my children are both fully vaccinated so it doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable for their sake,” Lara Beninca told Channel 9. “I know you can still get it if you were vaccinated, but I feel like there would be a very low risk for having any kind of serious illness even if they were exposed to it.”

Still, Beninca said she doesn’t think the regulations should be made too relaxed.

“I don’t know if that keeps everybody else protected,” she said.

The CDC says the new strategy does not replace quarantining, but it could offer another option for parents and schools.

“I haven’t really experienced anything negative with schooling and Covid because my wife is a teacher, but I can imagine if you’ve got to wait 10 days or 14 days to get your kids back in school, for parents who are not like that and don’t have that opportunity, how do they work?” Rahmings said.

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