HJSD COVID-19 Response

Dear Students, Parents, & Community Members of HJSD,

Please read the following information as it pertains to COVID and HJSD:

1. If you are sick, and your children are sick, please error on the side of caution and have them stay home.
2. If you are sick, or a close family member is sick and you choose to get tested, PLEASE alert the school immediately if your child or family member is positive.  This notification allows us to quarantine students and keep that number to a minimum.

You have tested positive for COVID-19 (coronavirus).

• Keep track of your symptoms on a calendar so you know when you are safe to end your period of isolation.
• You can discontinue home isolation under the following conditions:

Individuals with confirmed COVID-19 who have had symptoms:

• You have not had a fever for at least 24 hours without fever-reducing medication
  AND
• other symptoms have improved (for example, cough or shortness of breath have improved)
  AND
• at least 10 days* have passed since your symptoms first appeared

Individuals with confirmed COVID-19 who have NOT had any symptoms:

• You may discontinue home isolation when at least 10 days have passed since the date of your first positive COVID-19 diagnostic test and you have had no subsequent illness.
• If you did not have symptoms at the time of testing but developed symptoms later, follow the guidance above for patients with symptoms. This means that at a minimum, you should be in isolation for 10 days after your symptoms start.

*A limited number of persons with severe illness may need to extend the duration of isolation for up to 20 days after symptom onset, please consult with your primary care provider.
** A test-based strategy is no longer recommended to determine when to discontinue home isolation, except in certain circumstances. Please consult with your primary care provider.

After ending your self-isolation, you should continue to practice social distancing by staying at least six feet away from others, practice good hand hygiene, and wear a face covering. This is important to help reduce the risk of exposing other people to COVID-19. We cannot confirm that prior infection means you are immune to reinfection.

Contact your primary care provider if you are not sure what to do. You can also contact a St. Luke’s nurse at (208) 381-6284 if you have questions.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/isolation.html

The following information is for close contacts, intimate partners, and caregivers of patients who have tested positive or are under investigation for coronavirus. Please share this information with your close contacts!

• You should monitor your health for fever, cough, and shortness of breath during the 14 days after the last day you were in close contact with the sick person with COVID-19, or for 14 days after your household contact has been cleared to end home isolation. During that 14 days, avoid all public places. In other words, you should isolate yourself at home. If you develop symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 (e.g., fever, cough, shortness of breath, vomiting, or diarrhea), call your health care provider.
• Ask others for help getting groceries, prescriptions, and other personal needs so no one in the home leaves the house.
• Monitor the patient’s symptoms. If the patient is getting sicker, call his or her healthcare provider or 911 if it is a medical emergency. Be sure to notify the provider or emergency dispatch that the patient is COVID positive.
• Household members should stay in another room or be separated from the patient as much as possible. Household members should use a separate bedroom and bathroom, if available. Keep good airflow in the shared areas (air conditioner or open window).
• Prohibit visitors who do not have an essential need to be in the home.
• Do not allow the patient to handle pets or other animals while sick. If they touch the animal and then another family member touches the animal, it will spread the infection.
• The patient should wear a face covering when around other people. If the patient is not able to wear a face-covering (for example, because it causes trouble breathing), the caregiver should wear a mask when in the same room as the patient.
• Wear a disposable face covering and gloves when you touch or have contact with the patient’s blood, stool, or body fluids, such as saliva, sputum, nasal mucus, vomit, urine. Wash your hands after removing protective gear and do not reuse the protective gear.
• Everyone in the household should avoid sharing items such as dishes, cups, eating utensils, towels, bedding, or other items. After the patient uses these items, you should wash them thoroughly.
• Laundry: Immediately remove and wash clothes, towels, or bedding that have blood, stool, or body fluids on them using gloves and keep the soiled items away from your body. Wash hands after handling.
• Place all gloves, face coverings, and other contaminated items in a lined container (garbage bag) before putting them with the rest of the garbage. Wash hands after handling.

Additional general precautions for everyone:

1. Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains 60 to 95% alcohol, covering all surfaces of your hands and rubbing them together until they feel dry. Soap and water should be used preferentially if hands are visibly dirty.
2. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands and after touching these areas immediately wash or sanitize your hands again.
3. Clean all “high-touch” surfaces, such as counters, tabletops, doorknobs, bathroom fixtures, toilets, phones, keyboards, tablets, and bedside tables, every day. Also, clean any surfaces that may have blood, stool, or body fluids on them.

These guidelines were adapted from the CDC article Preventing the Spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Homes and Residential Communities.