The county health department says schools with mask mandates in place can ease contact tracing efforts amid the COVID-19 omicron surge.
The recommendation falls in line with new guidance from the Indiana Department of Health, meant to relieve school nursing staffs that have been taxed with mapping close contacts amid a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases that left five of the county’s six school districts with mask mandates. The new guidance comes months after the previous state guidance in the fall that allowed close contacts not to have to quarantine in schools that have mask mandates.
Johnson County health officer Jefferson Qualls shared the new contact tracing guidance with local schools during a conference call Wednesday, and is hoping schools will soon be able to nix quarantine and contact tracing rules altogether, even at schools where there isn’t a mask mandate, but he is seeking more guidance from state health officials before making any further recommendations, Qualls said.
“Since there’s so many asymptomatic and mild cases and with so many cases of omicron, it’s limited the effectiveness of close contacts,” Qualls said. “I have a weekly meeting with the state. I have the opportunity to ask questions specifically about having to quarantine.”
Despite the change in local and state guidance, Center Grove, Clark-Pleasant and Edinburgh schools will continue contact tracing for now, school officials said.
Edinburgh middle and high school students will return to in-person learning Monday after going virtual last week due to staffing shortages, superintendent Ron Ross said.
“We will be evaluating the data through next week,” Ross said. “If cases continue to decline, we plan to review our mask and quarantine policies in the next couple of weeks.”
School officials at Greenwood and Indian Creek schools did not respond to requests for comment by deadline, and Franklin schools superintendent David Clendening was not available for comment Wednesday.
Part of Qualls’ desire to not require quarantining is due to the decreased severity of the virus compared to previous variants, such as delta. If schools ceased quarantine requirements, officials could always revert back to the original guidelines if stronger variants emerge, he said.
“I think, with the increasing numbers of vaccinations, we’re making our way out of the pandemic,” Qualls said. “I think we’d be able to reinstate the rules if we need to.”
To reach what some expert call herd immunity, meaning enough of the population is immunized to prevent substantial virus spread, is a 70% vaccination rate. As of Tuesday, 61.7% of Johnson County residents ages five and older are fully vaccinated, according to state health department data.
