Strafford News

City of Dover issued the following announcement on January 12.

This week, the Dover School District updated its Protocols Applied to Pandemic Education (PAPE), shortening quarantine/isolation times for students and staff who test positive for COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2, and their close household contacts who tests positive.

The changes approved by the School Board on Jan. 10 bring the district guidelines in line with recently updated quarantine and isolation guidance from Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, and the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.

The updated PAPE protocols are available at the Dover School District's COVID-19 Updates webpage. Document changes are highlighted in yellow, with some changes noted below. Facemasks continue to be required for Dover public school students and staff in indoor public settings, regardless of vaccination status.

Quarantining after close contact with coronavirus

Those not fully vaccinated, exposed to the coronavirus through a close household contact and have not been diagnosed with a COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 infection in the past 90 days are to quarantine for five days from the last day of exposure. This could be up to 10 days under certain scenarios.

For those fully vaccinated, quarantining is not necessary, though they should monitor themselves for symptoms and exercise public health precautions for the potential of being a carrier/spreader of COVID-19. The PAPE guidelines recommend that the fully vaccinated person get tested five to seven days after exposure and wear a facemask in indoor public settings for ten days.

The document also notes in the future, the term "fully vaccinated" may be changed to "up to date," meaning a person must "have completed a primary COVID-19 vaccine series" and "any booster shots which they are eligible for and recommended to receive." To be considered "fully vaccinated," a person must be 14 days beyond the final dose of their primary COVID-19 vaccine series.

Ending isolation after positive COVID-19 test

A non-fully vaccinated person showing COVID-19 symptoms may end isolation and COVID-19 precautions if:

• At least five days have passed since the onset of symptoms.
• The person has been off fever-reducing medications for at least 24 hours while symptoms have been improving.

An asymptomatic positively tested person can stop isolation and precautions after five days have passed from the person's first positive COVID-19 test, assuming the person does not subsequently develop symptoms.

Click here to read the full document.

For more information, contact the Dover School District at 603-516-6800.

Original source can be found here.