If you have been exposed to someone who tests positive for COVID the health department or a public health nurse (Shawnee) will tell you to quarantine. This means you should stay home and away from other people for a set period of time (no outside activities, shopping, etc). You are asked to quarantine even if you feel fine as this is time the virus could be multiplying or incubating until it is big enough in your body that you now feel sick and are able to shed the virus to others. Only the person who had the close contact exposure to the positive person needs to quarantine unless the positive person is a household member.

If there is a positive case in our schools, everyone within that six feet of distance from the positive person needs to quarantine. However, some classrooms are set up so the students stay in one classroom all day and/or are engaging in high risk behaviors (such as eating) while in the classroom. In every case, MDH and Shawnee look at the number of people in the classroom, what behaviors occurred in the room, how long everyone was in the classroom, and makes the determination whether to quarantine the entire classroom or just the individuals within 6 feet of the positive person.

No, exactly the opposite! It means the quarantine worked and we kept others from getting sick. Studies show that if you can quarantine the sick person and stop them from shedding the virus to others, you can stop the spread among this group of people. There are some studies that show the more you are exposed to the COVID virus, the more likely you are to get COVID or have COVID-like symptoms as well. Quarantine works to stop the spread of the COVID virus to others.