VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Virginia Beach City Public Schools have made changes to their COVID-19 quarantine policy for high school students.
School officials provided an update to their COVID-19 policies. Starting Monday, December 6, high school students who have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 will not have to quarantine.
Officials say recent data has led VBCPS and the Virginia Beach Department of Public Health to this decision.
They say that when they reduced quarantine time from 14 to 10 days, per the CDC's recommendation, they did not see any additional cases in their buildings. They also say the data shows that the number of positive COVID-19 cases that result from one positive case in a high school is small compared to the city's middle and elementary schools.
According to VBCPS, it takes less than four positive cases at the elementary level to result in one additional COVID-19 case. In middle schools, there is one additional case for about every 10 cases. At the high school level, it takes 26 positive COVID-19 cases to result in one additional case.
Based on this data, VBCPS will suspend quarantine at high schools only starting December 6.
They say contact tracing will continue and health officials will monitor data for at least three weeks.
Officials say by January 24, 2022, they will have enough time to evaluate the data and any potential negative consequences from this change. They will also use this data to determine if quarantine will also be suspended at middle and elementary schools.
Also starting Monday, students and staff in PE classes or recess will not be required to wear a face mask.
For more information on the COVID-19 changes, click here.
