Chicago Public Schools (CPS) will begin to implement the most recent federal, state and city isolation and quarantine guidance, moving from a period of 10 to five days for those staff or students who test positive for COVID-19 or are unvaccinated close contacts on Feb. 1 or after.  A shorter isolation period is now recommended because the majority of COVID-19 transmission “occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the one to two days prior to onset of symptoms and the two to three days after,” according to the CDC.  Also, the time between exposure to the virus and when symptoms occur is shorter than previously understood– especially for the Omicron variant. Like the current procedures, the move to a five-day quarantine will impact students differently, depending on COVID-19 vaccination status, symptoms and confirmed infection, as follows:

• Children who test positive for COVID-19, regardless of their vaccination status, will need to isolate and learn at home for five days rather than 10. If the child still has symptoms after day five, they should continue to isolate at home until Day 10. If the child no longer has symptoms after day five, the child will be free to return to school on Day 6 with the following precautions in place:

– From days six – 10, students will keep their masks on at all times, including while outdoors, except when eating or drinking.  

– When masks must be removed for eating and drinking, these students will maintain six feet of social distance from others wherever possible. 

• Children who are not yet vaccinated, and who have been identified as close contacts of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, will need to quarantine and learn at home for five days rather than 10.

• Children who are fully vaccinated, and who have been identified as close contacts of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 will not have to be quarantined at all.