BALTIMORE — Baltimore City Public Schools has announced new changes to its quarantine protocol.
Starting Thursday, January 18, any students or faculty, who have COVID, are obligated to quarantine for five days and must remain fever-free for 24 hours with symptoms improving before returning to school.
Students and faculty must start their quarantine the day after symptoms appear. If you test positive but don't have symptoms, day 1 of quarantine is the day after you test positive.
Anyone who is unvaccinated and encounters someone who tests positive for COVID-19 must also isolate for five days, except participants who are participating in the Test to Stay protocols.
In addition, all students are required to participate in weekly testing at their schools as a part of the City School testing program. COVID testing can also be performed through a third party with the expectation to provide results.
All school staff must participate in weekly school testing through January, even if they are vaccinated.
These changes align with recent CDC and Maryland Department of Health guidelines for K-12 schools.