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Two new reports published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that schools don't need to quarantine students who have been exposed to COVID-19. Instead, schools found success at mitigating the spread of the virus by testing students who were exposed and letting those who tested negative return to class.
Officials in Lake County, Illinois, said they prevented more than 8,000 missed school days by using a "test-to-stay" policy. The results were even better in Los Angeles County, where the policy prevented over 92,000 missed school days.
The CDC is now urging other schools across the country to adopt similar policies in which an unvaccinated student who was exposed to the virus can return to class if they test negative twice within one week of the exposure.
"If exposed children meet a certain criteria and continue to test negative, they can stay in school, instead of quarantining at home," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during a briefing on Friday (December 17).
Walensky noted that all the schools involved in the pair of studies had mask requirements and social distancing of at least three feet.
There have been 7.2 million cases of COVID-19 reported in children since the start of the pandemic. Those cases make up more than 17% of the total cases in the country.