Town of East Bridgewater Shares Reminders Relating to Test and Stay Protocols for Students

Town of East Bridgewater Shares Reminders Relating to Test and Stay Protocols for Students

EAST BRIDGEWATER — The East Bridgewater Board of Health and East Bridgewater Public Schools would like to remind community members of the options available should a student be listed as an in-school close contact for COVID-19, in particular the option to “test and stay” so that students can remain in school during the testing period.

According to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), a close contact is defined as anyone who has been within 6 feet of a COVID-19 positive individual while indoors for at least 15 minutes during a 24-hour period and does not meet any of the exemption criteria.

Parents have several options should their child be identified as an in-school close contact for COVID-19:

Option 1
A student who has been identified as an in-school close contact can (with signed consent) take part in the test and stay protocols. Under test and stay, students will be given daily rapid tests for seven days on school days and remain in school provided the student tests negative and remains asymptomatic. The student will only test on the weekends if participating in an extracurricular school activity, and should quarantine when outside of a school setting.

To sign up for the COVID-19 safety check program, click here, select “Consent Now” and select East Bridgewater under the district drop-down menu.

Option 2
Parents may opt to quarantine their child at home for at least seven days and return to school provided the student tests negative and stays asymptomatic. Parents should monitor the student for COVID-19 symptoms for a total of 14 days.

Option 3
Parents may opt to quarantine their child at home for 10 days and return to school without testing provided the student stays asymptomatic. Parents should monitor the student for COVID-19 symptoms for a total of 14 days.

The East Bridgewater Board of Health and the East Bridgewater Public Schools remind parents that students who are fully vaccinated do not need to participate in test and stay or quarantine if they are exposed and remain asymptomatic, and encourage parents to vaccinate their children for their own safety and to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Per DESE protocols for the sustainability of the test and stay program, students who are close contacts outside of school are only eligible for options 2 or 3.
 

Anyone with questions about COVID-19 safety measures or test and stay protocols can contact Susan Mulloy at the East Bridgewater Board of Health at 508-378-1612 or smulloy@eastbridgewaterma.gov.
 

For the latest updates on COVID-19 from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, including vaccination and booster locations and information, click here. For COVID-19 isolation and quarantine information from Mass DPH, click here.
 

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A message from the East Bridgewater Board of Health and East Bridgewater Public Schools