Central District Health expects Ada County schools to go back to 'red' category next week

BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — Central District Health is offering additional guidance Friday after expecting Ada County schools to go back to the "red" category of COVID-19 protocols.

Case rates are continuing to go up in Ada County, CDH's most populous county. The latest wave of new cases will likely put Ada County schools back into the red category.

Red recommends that online learning takes place over in-person learning. CDH’s weekly recommendations for schools are determined using a specific calculation of a two-week average case rate.

The board does not expect Boise, Elmore, and Valley Counties to move to Category 3 (red) next week.

However, CDH supports schools maintaining operations with some level of in-person learning even if data places schools in the red category.

“We recognize that many schools and districts have some excellent plans in place that they are consistently following to keep kids in school,” said Russ Duke, District Director for Central District Health. "While we are seeing cases within our schools and are working closely with those impacted, fortunately, at this time, we are not seeing much school transmission, where people are becoming infected from others in the classroom environment."

This recommendation may change if case rates and hospitalizations continue to rise.

“We want to be judicious and responsible as to how we guide our schools based on data, as well as what we’re seeing in our investigations and contact tracing work,” added Duke.

The CDH released recommendations for Category 3 that gives schools more flexibility while maintaining hybrid learning plans:

• Schools should be working actively to moderate and/or slow reopening plans and adjusting accordingly to reduce risk.
• All programs should be operating with physical distancing measures in place
• At least 6-feet between individuals or small pods, which are independently spaced groups limited to 3-5 students. These should be in place CONSISTENTLY throughout the instruction day for in-person operations, including before and after school, classrooms, meal times, and at recess or breaks).
• Schools should evaluate at-home learning or hybrid models if operating in a 5 day-a-week instruction model and physical distancing cannot be maintained.
• All functions of in-person instruction should be evaluated and moved to operations at a reduced capacity if physical distancing (6 ft.) cannot be maintained.
• Programs should work with Central District Health to actively monitor cases and transmission as a result of exposure. Messaging assistance for these occurrences will be provided as requested through CDH.
• If transmission of COVID-19 is occurring in the physical structure or among a specific team or extracurricular event, schools should modify plans and operate under these modified plans for at least 2 weeks from an identified positive case in order to accurately assess if there is additional risk of transmission occurring.
• All cases and any exposed contacts must follow quarantine guidelines outlined by Central District Health in conjunction with the current guidelines provided by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• This includes a full 14-day quarantine from the date of last exposure for identified contacts.
• Youth extracurricular activities can be high-risk and are leading to a number of exposures and quarantines. During Category 3, we recommend assessing extracurricular activities based on whether the activity can be done with physical distancing and face coverings. For those activities where these mitigations are either not practical or cannot be enforced, they should be paused until in Category 2 to effectively reduce risk of transmission occurring in any and all parties involved in the operation of these events.
• Extra precautions should be considered in all activities that utilize bussing and/or carpooling, as both increase exposure risk.

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