Modified quarantines continue in Fayette schools

Students and staff who have had close contact with individuals testing positive for COVID-19 are still attending school under Fayette County’s modified quarantine protocol. Assistant Superintendent Mike Sanders told the Board of Education on Oct. 4 that the Oct. 1 case report showed only 19 new positive cases among students and, for the first time, none among staff. Four positive students were placed in home quarantine but another 55 who only had close contact could stay at school provided they wear masks and have no symptoms. Sanders said the modified quarantine rule “has helped significantly to keep kids in school.”

Superintendent Jonathan Patterson said that lifting the mask requirement before the end of October would eliminate the modified quarantine option and cause more students to miss school if virus rates rise again. “It’s not always a simple decision,” he said. An advisory panel will meet later this month to review the policy.