Governor Asa Hutchinson announced at a press conference on Thursday that Arkansas will adopt the new CDC guidelines in regard to the length of quarantining for COVID-19 close contacts. Searcy School District will follow these new guidelines which include the following:
*The safest is to quarantine at home the full fourteen (14) days.
*If exposed to a positive COVID-19 case, students/staff members will be required to quarantine at home for ten (10) days and then may be released from quarantine but should continue to monitor for symptoms and take precautions; and
* if a student/staff member receives a negative PCR test, he/she may be released from quarantine after seven (7) days but should continue to monitor for symptoms and take precautions. The PCR test must not be taken prior to five (5) full days following exposure to the close contact.
*Most importantly, if at any time someone who is in quarantine due to being a close contact begins to present symptoms of COVID-19, he/she should immediately isolate and be tested for COVID-19 (even if he/she previously had a negative test during quarantine).
Finally, the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) believes these new guidelines will greatly benefit the Arkansas public schools. We at Searcy School District want to remind our families that we must continue to be cautious and follow all COVID-19 guidance in schools including social distancing, mask wearing, and hand washing.
For any questions or concerns regarding these new CDC guidelines, please contact the Searcy School District point of contact Tammy Bishop at tbishop@searcyschools.org or 501-207-2514.