By Ta’Leah Van Sistine, community reporter/editor
In school settings, a student is considered a close contact to a positive COVID-19 case if the two were in close quarters with each other for 15 minutes or more, according to Angela Weideman, the director/health officer for the county’s Department of Public Health.
Weideman’s comment came in a virtual press conference on Thursday.
The Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District started requiring students and staff to wear face masks when indoors this past week. Weideman noted that contact tracing procedures slightly change when schools, like Chippewa Falls, require masks.
“If a person with a positive case was masked and (their) close contacts were masked, they can use three feet of distance to identify close contacts rather than six feet,” Weideman said.
Using three feet instead of six feet as a reference helps schools reduce the number of children who need to be quarantined, she said.
Students who are in quarantine, but asymptomatic, have the choice to get tested on their sixth day of quarantine, Weideman said. Students who test negative typically can return to school.
However, if students test positive on their sixth day of quarantine – even if they’re not showing symptoms – they will need to stay home.