The following COVID-19 update was emailed to families Friday, September 3. MCPS is providing weekly COVID-19 updates to keep families informed on how COVID-19 is affecting their school system.
MCPS families,
Below you’ll find information regarding the number of MCPS students who are currently quarantined because they have tested positive for COVID-19 and the number of students quarantined because they were identified as close contacts. These numbers are not year-to-date totals; instead, they show the number of students currently impacted.
It’s important to note that close contacts are those students identified based on the contact tracing protocols we received from our regional health department. These students have not tested positive but were identified as close contacts based on their proximity to someone who has tested positive. Students who are fully vaccinated and are not showing symptoms are not required to quarantine and therefore are not included in the close contacts.
Also, please realize that those who have tested positive did not necessarily contract the virus while at school. In some instances, we receive notification of positive cases based on an exposure that occurred outside of school.
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Last year, when we received information regarding a positive case, we emailed the families of the affected school and posted those communications to our district website.
This year, we have decided to send weekly updates that include the number of positive cases and the number of close contacts required to quarantine for each school to give parents a clearer picture of how COVID-19 is affecting our schools.
Please remember that if your child tests positive, you need to contact your child’s school and inform the principal.
With parental consent, children ages 12 and older can receive the COVID-19 vaccine, which will be available at our schools. Please contact your child’s school nurse for more information. Also, MCPS is now approved to offer a Test-to-Stay program which allows students who are identified as close contacts to avoid quarantining from school. This program is optional, but requires parental consent. You can read more about this program here.