Declined Coronavirus Rates In L.A. County Schools Prompt Modified Close-Contact Quarantine

Posted by: Rachel Matta in Coronavirus, Santa Clarita Latest News September 17, 2021 - 10:41 am 1 Comment 2,025 Views

As vaccinations increase and coronavirus cases decline among L.A. County teens, Public Health announced modified quarantine guidelines for exposed students, allowing them to continue studying in the classroom under certain circumstances.

On Thursday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) reported a 40 percent decline in coronavirus cases in children over the past three weeks, a vast difference from the increasing case rates in all child age groups between mid-July and mid-August.

With more than 1.5 million students and 175,000 staff countywide, 0.5 percent of the student body and 0.7 percent of staff have become infected since school districts reopened. This is slightly higher than the 0.4 percent rate of infection experienced overall in the County, according to Public Health.

“Given the massive testing of asymptomatic individuals at schools, this very low rate of infection affirms the safety provided to students and staff at schools,” according to a statement from Public Health on Thursday.

As precaution, students who are not fully vaccinated have been subject to quarantine for up to 10 days if exposed to COVID-19, however Public Health is offering modified quarantine guidelines as school transmission remains at a low and stable rate.

Between Aug. 15 and Sept. 13, 15,655 student contacts and 1,056 staff contacts have been reported, with an additional 22,650 close contacts of unknown status reported, most of them suspected to be students, according to Public Health.

In total, nearly 2 percent of all staff and students countywide have been identified as a close contact of a case. Data to date indicates that very few of the identified close contacts have subsequently tested positive, according to Public Health officials.

As of last week, among the almost 30,000 people quarantined, 63 tested positive, amounting to an overall secondary attack rate of 0.2 percent, according to Public Health.

As a result of these findings and further review into teen cases since school reopenings, Public Health decided to offer modified quarantine regulations under certain circumstances, according to Public Health.

Modified quarantine allows, under certain conditions, an unvaccinated student with an exposure to a confirmed COVID-19 case to continue in-person instruction at school during their quarantine, while restricting their activities outside of the classroom, according to Public Health.

Those who qualify for modified quarantine include close contacts whose exposure took place at school or a school supervised activity when both the contact and the case were masked during the entire exposure period, and the close contacts are not part of a defined outbreak, according to officials.

The exposed student must remain asymptomatic for the duration of quarantine, stay home except for classroom and educational instruction activities, and continue to wear a mask indoors, outdoors, and on the school bus, except for when they are eating and drinking, according to Public Health.

While eating and drinking, they must maintain at least a six-foot distance from others, ideally taking place outdoors and must be tested twice a week during their quarantine, according to officials.

The first test should be on day one through two after exposure, while the second test should be five days after exposure. Modified quarantine ends when a second test done at least five days after exposure is negative. In this scenario, the exposed student can end modified quarantine after day seven, according to Public Health.

Public Health noted that schools and school districts are not required to offer a modified quarantine option to their students and may choose to continue with the customary quarantine requirements.

Even though case rates remain low, Public Health’s highest priority is to increase teen vaccination rates, according to Public Health.

“Safety at schools is amplified many-fold when vaccination coverage is very high, as widespread vaccination dramatically reduces transmission at schools, after school activities, community events and at home,” said Barbara Ferrer, Director of Public Health, on Thursday. “Vaccinated teens are about eight times less likely to get infected than unvaccinated teens.”

The current case rate for 12 to 17 year-olds is 132 new cases per 100,000 teens; for 5 to 11 year-olds the case rate is now 141 new cases per 100,000 children; and for children 0 to 4, the case rate is 88 per 100,000 children, according to Public Health.

“Because vaccinating teens also reduces transmission at school, it decreases the likelihood of outbreaks causing disruptions in learning,” Ferrer said. “One major advantage of being vaccinated is that fully vaccinated students are more likely to stay in school after an exposure. That’s because our quarantine guidance currently exempts asymptomatic fully vaccinated individuals from quarantine. Along with our school partners, we’re working hard to ensure it’s easy for teens to get vaccinated.”

As of Sunday, 63 percent of L.A. County teens between 12 to 15 years old had received at least one dose of vaccine and 53 percent were fully vaccinated. Among teens 16 to 17 years old, 70 percent had received at least one dose, and 61 percent were fully vaccinated, according to Public Health.

In K-12 school settings countywide, between Aug. 15 and Sept. 13, 7,995 student cases and 1,193 staff cases have been reported, with the vast majority occurring within the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), not including Santa Clarita schools as they are not a part of the LAUSD.

On Thursday, Public Health confirmed 28 additional coronavirus-related deaths and 2,023 new cases of COVID-19, according to Public Health.

Of the 28 new deaths reported Thursday, four people who passed away were over the age of 80, six people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79, eight people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64, eight people who died were between the ages of 30 and 49, and one person who died was between the ages of 18 and 29.

To date, Public Health identified 1,439,011 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County and a total of 25,775 deaths.

There are 1,185 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized and 30 percent of these people are in the ICU. Testing results are available for more than 8,414,000 individuals with 16 percent of people testing positive.

As of Thursday, Sept.16, 33,806 cumulative cases have been reported in the Santa Clarita Valley since March of 2020, according to Public Health. These cases include:

25,752 in the City of Santa Clarita* (+50)
62 in the unincorporated areas of Bouquet Canyon
1,100 in the unincorporated areas of Canyon Country (+3)
4,297 in Castaic* (+16)
70 in the unincorporated areas of Newhall
4 in Placerita Canyon
18 in San Francisquito/Bouquet Canyon
22 in unincorporated Sand Canyon
160 in the unincorporated areas of Saugus
46 in the unincorporated areas of Saugus/Canyon Country
1,601 in Stevenson Ranch (+9)
412 in the unincorporated areas of Val Verde (+1)
262 in the unincorporated areas of Valencia

Public Health encourages everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated. Anyone 12 and older living or working in L.A. County can get vaccinated against COVID-19. Many vaccination sites across the county, including all the County-run sites, are also offering third doses of vaccine to eligible immunocompromised people. Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status.

To learn how to make a vaccine appointment, what verifications you will need to show at your vaccination appointment, and much more, visit the L.A. County Vaccination website (English) or Vacunate Los Angeles website (Spanish).

Vaccinations are always free and open to eligible residents and workers regardless of immigration status.

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