County schools change quarantine protocols

The Cullman County Board of Education sent out new guidelines on Wednesday, updating when students who are quarantining can return to school.

Under the new guidelines, students who are quarantining due to being in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 can return to school after seven days if they have tested negative for the disease and have not had any symptoms. 

According to the new guidance, “If a student remains symptom-free, they may return on day 8 if they receive a negative test. That test MUST be performed on days 5, 6, or 7 following the date of exposure. The close contact MUST present the negative test result to the school before returning. Home COVID tests are NOT acceptable.”

Students are considered to have been in close contact if they been within six feet of an infected person for 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period and were not consistently wearing a mask.

According to the Alabama Department of Public Health dashboard, 52 Cullman County students were out with COVID-19 as of last week. ADPH updates the school dashboard every Thursday.