Please note this letter was emailed home to all BCSD families on March 8, 2024. If you did not receive this email please reach out to your building’s main office to update your contact information.
March 8, 2024
Dear Parents/Guardians:
On March 1, 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officially revised and simplified its COVID-19 guidance for how long individuals should isolate themselves from others. Most notably, the updated guidelines discontinue the requirements for a 5-day quarantine.
Individuals should not attend work or school if they are exhibiting symptoms of an illness or if they have had a fever within 24 hours.
The CDC has moved from virus-specific guidance to issuing overall Respiratory Virus Guidance as the threat of COVID-19 has become similar to common respiratory illnesses such as the flu and RSV. Its new recommendations “suggest returning to normal activities when symptoms are improving overall, and if a fever was present, it has been gone for 24 hours without use of a fever-reducing medication.” New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) Updated Recommendations
For examples of what to do when your child contracts a respiratory virus review the information below and or click here.
If your child is sick:
- Your child should stay home and away from others (including people you live with who are not sick) if your child has respiratory virus symptoms that aren’t better explained by another cause.
- If your child’s symptoms include but are not limited to fever, chills, fatigue, cough, runny nose, and or headache, take a COVID-19 test.
- Please note BCSD has a limited number of tests available. To request a COVID-19 test kit please contact:
| Michele Corsey, RN-School Nurse – Berlin Middle School/High School Phone – (518) 658-1500 ext. 1061 Email – mcorsey@berlincentral.org |
Jean Hammond, RN-School Nurse – Berlin Elementary School Phone – (518) 658-1500 ext. 308 Email – jhammond@berlincentral.org |
- If your child has early to latent symptoms of a respiratory illness or tested positive for COVID-19, please review the CDC’s Updated Guidance.
- Your child can go back to your normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, both are true:
- Your child’s symptoms are getting better overall, and
- Your child has not had a fever for 24 hours (and is not using fever-reducing medication).
- When your child goes back to normal activities, please take added precautions over the next 5 days, such as taking additional steps for cleaner air, hygiene (washing hands before eating/covering your cough), masks, and physical distancing
- If your child develops a fever or starts to feel worse after he or she has gone back to normal activities, your child should stay home and away from others again until, for at least 24 hours, both are true: your child’s symptoms are improving overall, and your child have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication). Then, take added precautions for the next 5 days.
Remember that even if your child is feeling better, he or she may still be able to spread the virus that made him or her sick.
Please continue to notify the school if your child tests positive for COVID-19, Flu or RSV.
Thank you for your continued cooperation and understanding as we adapt to the new guidance.
Sincerely,
Dr. Maureen A. Long
Interim Superintendent
