Coronavirus Family Information
COVID-19 Symptoms
People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19.
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches
- Headache
- New loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Congestion or runny nose
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
This list does not include all possible symptoms and will be updated as more is learned about COVID-19.
Daily Health Screening of Students
The Beavercreek City School District requires that parents assess students prior to coming to school each day in an effort to help prevent the Coronavirus from entering the school system. Parents should keep symptomatic students at home and contact your school nurse. A student with a fever of 100.4 F or over should stay home without exception.
A student who has the COVID-19 symptoms described below should stay home from school and should see a doctor/primary care provider to be assessed for COVID-19:
-
Any of the following symptoms: cough, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing
OR
● Two of the following symptoms: fever (measured or subjective), chills, rigors, myalgia, headache, sore
throat, new loss of taste or smell, gastro-intestinal issues (nausea/vomiting or diarrhea)
OR
● Any of the following symptoms: cough, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing, fever (measured or
subjective), chills, rigors, myalgia, headache, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell, GI Issues (nausea and
vomiting or diarrhea) AND an epidemiological link to a case of COVID -19
Students That Do Not Feel Well
If your student has any new or unexplained* symptoms of COVID, including fever, congestion, cough, loss of smell or taste, fatigue, headache, muscle aches, please keep him home, call the school to let them know, and contact your doctor. If you or your child’s doctor decide to have a COVID test, please keep your child home while waiting on the results. If a student has a documented chronic condition that accounts for symptoms, they are not considered “new/unexplained.”
Symptomatic Students in School
My Child is on Quarantine, What About My Other Children?
If You Have COVID-19 or Quarantined
- Stay home. Most people with COVID-19 have mild illness and can recover at home without medical care. Do not leave your home, except to get medical care. Do not visit public areas.
- Take care of yourself. Get rest and stay hydrated. Take over-the-counter medicines, such as acetaminophen, to help you feel better if necessary.
- Stay in touch with your doctor. Call before you get medical care. Be sure to get care if you have trouble breathing, or have any other emergency warning signs, or if you think it is an emergency.
- Avoid public transportation, ride-sharing, or taxis.
As much as possible, stay in a specific room and away from other people and pets in your home. If possible, you should use a separate bathroom. If you need to be around other people or animals in or outside of the home, wear a mask.
Tell your close contacts that they may have been exposed to COVID-19. An infected person can spread COVID-19 starting 48 hours (or 2 days) before the person has any symptoms or tests positive. By letting your close contacts know they may have been exposed to COVID-19, you are helping to protect everyone.
Wear A Mask Over Your Nose and Mouth
- You should wear a mask over your nose and mouth if you must be around other people or animals, including pets (even at home).
- You don’t need to wear the mask if you are alone. If you can’t put on a mask (because of trouble breathing, for example), cover your coughs and sneezes in some other way. Try to stay at least 6 feet away from other people. This will help protect the people around you.
- Masks should not be placed on young children under age 2 years, anyone who has trouble breathing, or anyone who is not able to remove the mask without help.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. This is especially important after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing; going to the bathroom; and before eating or preparing food.
- Use hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol, covering all surfaces of your hands and rubbing them together until they feel dry.
- Soap and water are the best option, especially if hands are visibly dirty.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Do not share dishes, drinking glasses, cups, eating utensils, towels, or bedding with other people in your home.
- Wash these items thoroughly after using them with soap and water or put in the dishwasher.
- Clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces in your “sick room” and bathroom; wear disposable gloves. Let someone else clean and disinfect surfaces in common areas, but you should clean your bedroom and bathroom, if possible.
- If a caregiver or other person needs to clean and disinfect a sick person’s bedroom or bathroom, they should do so on an as-needed basis. The caregiver/other person should wear a mask and disposable gloves prior to cleaning. They should wait as long as possible after the person who is sick has used the bathroom before coming in to clean and use the bathroom.
- Clean and disinfect areas that may have blood, stool, or body fluids on them.
- Use household cleaners and disinfectants. Clean the area or item with soap and water or another detergent if it is dirty. Then, use a household disinfectant.
- Be sure to follow the instructions on the label to ensure safe and effective use of the product. Many products recommend keeping the surface wet for several minutes to ensure germs are killed. Many also recommend precautions such as wearing gloves and making sure you have good ventilation during use of the product.
What If I'm Positive and Cannot Isolate From My Kids?
This is part of the quarantine protocol. If you have COVID and cannot isolate yourself from the rest of the family, you are considered contagious for 10 days after your symptoms start, OR after a positive test, if you do not have symptoms. Your child must isolate with you, then start their quarantine after day 10, so if you start feeling sick on 12/01 and are diagnosed with COVID, you must isolate through 12/10. Your child’s quarantine will start on 12/11 and will end in either 7, 10 or 14 days, depending on which option you choose. If your child tests positive during this time, they can return to school after their 10 days of isolation.
If a Parent or Person in the Home is Sick
If you or another person in your home is ill and being tested for COVID, you can keep your child home from school on quarantine protocol. If the COVID test is negative, the child can return to school. However, if you are being tested as part of your employment and do not have symptoms, your child can be in school while waiting for those test results.
Do Students Need a COVID Test to Return to School?
Returning to School if Sick but Not COVID
Option 1: Following a negative COVID-19 test result
Students who have symptoms of illness can return to school following a negative COVID-19 test result, if they have been fever-free* for 24 hours (without medication), and their symptoms have improved**. Contact your school nurse to identify your student's return date.
Option 2: Following 10 days of isolation
Students who are sick and choose to not get a COVID-19 test can return to school after 10 days from the start of symptoms, if they have been fever-free* for 24 hours (without medication that would lower a fever), and their symptoms are better**. Contact your school nurse to identify your student's return date.
Option 3: Following a doctor's note indicating an alternative diagnosis
Students that are required to isolate due to symptoms can return to school if their doctor provides an alternative diagnosis to explain the symptoms, when they have been fever-free* for 24 hours (without medication that would lower a fever), and their symptoms are better**. Contact your school nurse to provide a note from the doctor and determine your student's return date.
*A fever is an oral temperature of 100.4 or above. If using a non-contact (forehead) thermometer, a fever is 99.4 or above.
**Improving symptoms means your child feels better, is able to eat and drink normally, any cough is under control, nasal congestion is less, eyes not red.
Mask Wearing
DO
- Wear masks to help protect yourself from getting or spreading COVID-19
- Wear masks with two or more layers to stop the spread of COVID-19
- Wear the mask over your nose and mouth and secure it under your chin
- Wash your mask regularly
DO NOT
- Put masks on someone two years and younger
- Put masks on people who have trouble breathing, or people who cannot remove the mask without assistance
- Wear masks intended for healthcare workers, for example, N95 respirators
- Include your mask with your regular laundry
- Use regular laundry detergent and the warmest appropriate water setting for the cloth used to make the mask
- Use the highest heat setting and leave in the dryer until completely dry
All About Contact Tracing
Contact tracing is the process of finding out who has been in close contact with someone who has COVID. A close contact is someone who has been within 6 feet of someone who has tested positive for COVID for at least 15 minutes in a day. When a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19 and has been in the school during the 48 hour period before symptoms began (or before a positive COVID test if no symptoms), the administration will begin contact tracing using seating charts for the classroom, lunchroom and buses. Close contacts on school-sponsored athletic teams and organizations will also be identified.
Ill or Quarantined Students and School Work
Keeping Kids Home If No Exposure - Absence Guidelines
If a parent/guardian wants to keep their child home due to the number of positive cases in a building or classroom, or has concerns that sending their child to school is not safe due to the pandemic, they can use up to the 10 allowable parent notes to cover the absences as an excused absence (not medically excused). If the 10 parent notes have been exhausted for this school year, these absences would be unexcused and House Bill 410 truancy laws will come into play.
The attendance changes are effective as of November 30, 2020. Absences prior to this date are not subject to this change and should not be updated.
Contacting Parents of a Quarantine
Traveling to Other Areas of the Country
This will change from week to week, as Ohio and other states have levels of COVID rise and fall. You can check the Ohio Department of Health travel advisory webpage here: https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/families-and-individuals/COVID-19-Travel-Advisory/COVID-19-Travel-Advisory
Currently the district policy is: If a student travels out of state and the parent/guardian chooses to self-quarantine the family/student, these absences are excused (not medically excused), and are coded as a pandemic note. This quarantine is not mandatory, but it is recommended by the Governor. Currently, the district will allow parents/guardians to use this option twice this school year for a maximum of 10 school days for each occurrence. For situations that extend beyond the two allowable quarantines due to travel, these cases should be referred to your building principal for review. The excused absences will count toward the Excessive Absence Threshold.
Precautions at School
Physical Measures
- Plexiglass barriers
- Screening dividers in clinics to help separate students
- Floor markings to promote social distancing and define safe pedestrian walkways
- Spacing desks as far apart as possible
- Assigned seating for contact tracing if necessary
- Additional hand sanitizing stations
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) - provided for staff to wear as necessary
- Masks
- Gowns, Face Shields, and Booties
- Gloves
Enhanced Cleaning and Sanitizing Protocols
- Specific COVID-19 training for custodians
- Specific products selected to kill SARS-CoV-2
- High use areas are sanitized multiple times a day, including student desks
- Disinfect school buses daily between AM and PM routes
- Disinfect classrooms nightly with electrostatic spray guns
HVAC Adjustments
- Increased the amount of outside fresh air that we bring into our buildings
- Run our equipment six additional hours each day to allow for more air turnover
- All air filters were changed this summer
- Increased frequency of air filter replacements