Worcester County Public Schools implement modified quarantine for students

WORCESTER COUNTY, Md. – Worcester County Public Schools are announcing a new program to help cut down on the time kids spend out of school when in quarantine.

The new modified quarantine order would allow students who may have been exposed to COVID-19 to be able to come into school for in-person instruction. Students would have to wear masks at all times and take rapid tests administered in the school every other day for a period of 7 days during the exposure window. Students would also not be able to participate in extracurricular activities.

Administrators tell us they are confident that the repeated tests and safety guidelines would lead to rapid detection of any cases that aren’t immediately detected.

“We know our mitigation strategies work so even if with the possibilities of inaccuracies our students are masking and observing social distancing as well so we have these mitigation strategies on top of the testing,” said Annette Wallace, CFO for grades 9-12.

The district says these measures reflect their top two priorities: keeping kids safe and making sure as many children as possible can get in-person instruction. Students will be given the option to opt-in or out after getting a phone call notifying them they would need to quarantine.