School Officials Urge Parents to Screen Youth for COVID-19 Symptoms

Published by admin on Tue, 08/11/2020 - 4:20pm

The officials with the Milbank School District are moving ahead with in-person classes this school term, but they are relying on the parents of school-aged youth to screen for symptoms at home every day.

During the regular meeting of the board of education Monday evening, Justin Downes, superintendent, updated the board members regarding the new COVID-19 screening standards and thresholds requiring students to stay at home.

Under the new standards, any students who register an oral temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, must stay home from school. They must remain home until their temperature has been normal for 24 hours.

If the following conditions exist alone, the student will not be required to stay home because of COVID-19 concerns, but the parents still need to follow the existing school policy. These conditions are a new, uncontrolled cough that causes difficulty breathing; diarrhea, vomiting or abdominal pain, new onset of a severe headache, especially with a fever.

Parents are also asked to monitor and report any close contact or potential exposure the child may have to persons with COVID-19. This would include being within six feet of a confirmed case for 15 minutes or more; had close contact with a person under quarantine; traveled to or lived in an area where large numbers of COVID-19 are reported (new cases exceed the rate of 100 cases per 100,000 population in the past week), or living in areas of high community transmission while the school remains open.

If any of the close contact exposure points coincide with fever, sore throat, headache, diarrhea, vomiting or abdominal pain, the students are to stay at home until they receive a negative test for COVID-19. If they are not tested, they are to stay home at least 10 days from the symptom onset. Before returning to school, they must be fever-free for 24 hours, and the symptoms must have improved.

Officials recognize that children with conditions other than COVID-19 may exhibit symptoms that overlap. Among them is strep throat, which typically has a fever, sore throat, diarrhea or vomiting and body or muscle aches. A common cold can show up with a cough, sore throat, fatigue, runny nose, and body or muscle aches. Children with asthma my exhibit cough, shortness of breath and fatigue. Those with seasonal allergies may commonly have a cough, sore throat, fatigue and runny noses. Other than COVID-19, cases of flu may cause fever, cough, sore throat, fatigue, diarrhea or vomiting, runny nose and body or muscle aches.

School officials stress the importance of parents actively screening their children for symptoms before school each day as they attempt to limit the potential exposure to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.