UPDATED CDC QUIDANCE - AUGUST 11, 2021

From: Jeff Butts <jeff.butts@wayne.k12.in.us>
Date: August 11, 2021 at 1:07:01 PM EDT
Subject: Fwd: Updated CDC Guidance



I've had several Superintendents ask me for the language from the CDC that was our tipping point for mandating masks.  If you have not seen it yet, I have included the link and the language below.   We have interpreted the "indoor classroom" to include any indoor space.  Because I have not found seperate CDC guidance on contact tracing on the school bus, we are considering our school buses as indoor spaces.

Updated CDC Guidance: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/contact-tracing/contact-tracing-plan/appendix.html#contact

Close Contact through Proximity and Duration of Exposure: Someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person (laboratory-confirmed or a clinically compatible illness) for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period (for example, three individual 5-minute exposures for a total of 15 minutes). An infected person can spread SARS-CoV-2 starting from 2 days before they have any symptoms (or, for asymptomatic patients, 2 days before the positive specimen collection date), until they meet criteria for discontinuing home isolation.

• Exception: In the K–12 indoor classroom setting, the close contact definition excludes students who were within 3 to 6 feet of an infected student (laboratory-confirmed or a clinically compatible illness) if both the infected student and the exposed student(s) correctly and consistently wore well-fitting masks the entire time.

This exception does not apply to teachers, staff, or other adults in the indoor classroom setting.

The key phrase is "within 3 feet". Some are still using the 6 foot standard for contact tracing. In that case, it would be read as "within 6 feet". Our health department had the same interpretation.