Non-Residential Congregate Settings: Early Care and Education Settings, K-12 Schools, and Programs Serving School-Aged Children*
*Programs serving school-aged children include Day Care for School-Aged Children, Day Camps, Parks and Recreation Sites, and Youth Sports Programs
Under Title 17, Section 2500, California Code of Regulations all suspected outbreaks are reportable.
Non-Residential Congregate Settings in Early Care and Education Settings and TK-12 Schools, and Programs Serving School-Aged Children
At least 3 laboratory-confirmed cases with symptomatic or asymptomatic COVID-19 infection within a 14-day period in a group* with members who are epidemiologically linked, do not share a household, and are not a close contact of each other outside of the campus. Epidemiological links require cases to be present in the same setting during the same time period while infectious.
*Groups include persons that share a common membership, e.g., same classroom, school event, school-based extracurricular activity, academic cohort, athletic teams, clubs.
Investigation can be conducted over the phone.
The frequency of follow-up with the facility for outbreak updates will be at least weekly, but more frequently as needed and determined by the Outbreak Investigation Branch (OMB).
Complete COVID-19 Education Sector Outbreak Form at the conclusion of the investigation (See Report Forms).
Additional Guidance/Resources:
Confirmed COVID-19: A patient with a positive SARS- CoV-2 viral (molecular or antigen) test.
Presumed COVID-19: A patient with clinically compatible symptoms of COVID-19 and no clear alternate diagnosis with/without exposure history. This presumptive clinical diagnosis is used when the provider has a high index of suspicion that a patient has COVID-19.
Per the DPH Screening and Exposure Decision Pathways for Early Care and Education Centers and TK-12 Schools, symptoms consistent with possible COVID-19 in children include: fever ≥100.4 F; new cough (different from baseline); diarrhea or vomiting. Symptoms that may be associated with COVID-19 in adults include fever ≥100.4 F or feeling feverish (chills, sweating); new cough (different from baseline); shortness of breath; muscle or body aches; diarrhea or vomiting; new loss of taste or smell.
Cases (Staff/Employees)
A contact is a person with exposure to a confirmed case of COVID-19 during the period from 48 hours before symptom onset until the case meets criteria for discontinuing home isolation (See Home Isolation Instructions). For asymptomatic cases, the date of collection of the specimen that was positive for SARS-CoV-2 can be used in place of symptom onset.
Exposures are defined as follows:
Note: Asymptomatic persons who are fully vaccinated OR have recovered from laboratory confirmed COVID-19 within the last 90 days AND who are a close contacts to a confirmed case are not required to quarantine or test for COVID-19. However, they should monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 for 14 days following an exposure.
A person is considered fully vaccinated >2 weeks following the receipt of the second dose in a 2-dose series (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna) OR one dose of a single-dose vaccine (Johnson and Johnson/Janssen). This guidance can also be applied to COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorized for emergency use by the World Health Organization (e.g. AstraZeneca/Oxford). See WHO's website for more information about WHO-authorized COVID-19 vaccines.
Quarantine Instructions for Contacts
Targeted Testing for Contacts
Contacts (Staff/Employees)
Common Workspaces |
|
Employee Communication |
|
Staff Interaction |
|
Students |
|