School is back, and so is COVID-19. How Detroit area districts are addressing illness

Michigan students subject to mask mandates and quarantine requirements in recent school years are getting more simple guidance from districts this year: If the student isn't feeling well, he or she should stay home.

Michigan, following a national trend, is experiencing a small increase in COVID-19 cases: 3,792 cases in the week of Sept. 5 compared with about 800 two months earlier. The seven-day average in cases has slowly creeped up, though the rise is not as dramatic as other previous pandemic spikes.

Nationwide, school districts' responses to rising COVID-19 cases vary. In Alabama, some schools are encouraging students to wear masks again as hospitalizations rise across the state, Al.com reported, and, in Maryland, an elementary school principal mandated masks for Kindergartners, according to the Washington Post.

In Michigan, multiple school districts in metro Detroit and beyond told the Detroit Free Press that they are following guidance from local health departments and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. None of the districts who responded said they were bringing back mask mandates.

What schools are saying

Detroit Public Schools Community District will continue to follow the lead of the CDC and the Detroit Health Department, Superintendent Nikolai Vitti wrote in a statement emailed through a spokeswoman.

The CDC's guidance is optional for schools and child care facilities, and the full guidance can be found here. The organization recommends that schools promote staying up-to-date on COVID vaccinations and encourages families keep children home when they have symptoms of an infection.

"Currently, there are no new COVID related mandates," Vitti wrote. "We will always encourage our families, staff, and the community to monitor their symptoms. We continue to have a nurse at all of our schools to support and problem solve with students and their families who are not feeling well. We are not implementing any new or specific COVID health strategies this year."

Dearborn Public Schools spokesman David Mustonen sent the Free Press a document shared with parents that advises families as to when they should consider keeping their child at home and for how long. In the case of a positive COVID-19 test, the child should be symptom-free for 24 hours before returning.

"We of course are always watching out for any trends that may require us to take additional precautions," Mustonen wrote.

In Grand Rapids, spokesman Leon Hendrix wrote: "We continue to encourage our scholars to practice hand hygiene and encouraging families with children who are ill to keep them home from school. There are no special precautions outside of the recommendations from the CDC."

And in Walled Lake, Dan Durkin, a spokesman for Walled Lake Consolidated Schools, wrote that students who test positive for the virus should be kept home and absences reported to their school's secretary.

What the CDC and local health departments says

Schools should "optimize ventilation" in buildings, according to the CDC, which can help improve indoor air quality. There has been a major push in schools to improve air quality through HVAC improvements, with many projects funded by federal relief money.

The CDC states that wearing a well-fitting mask consistently and correctly does reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus. Anyone exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19 should wear a mask for 10 days from the date of last exposure, the organization recommends.

In the case of a positive test, the CDC recommends to:

• Count the day you first began having symptoms as day 0. Isolate at home through day five and if you have to be around others, wear a high-quality mask.

• It's safe to end isolation if you had a mild illness and symptoms are improving after day 5. If you had a fever, only end isolation after day 5 if you haven't had a fever for 24 hours without the aid of fever-reducing drugs.

• If your symptoms included shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, isolate through day 10.

• If you were hospitalized or were severely ill, isolate through day 10 and consult with your doctor about ending isolation.

Parents can also use this CDC test locator to find free tests.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services recommends that any individuals who test positive for the coronavirus should isolate for five days and may leave isolation after five days if their symptoms have improved or if they have had no symptoms. Like the CDC, MDHHS advises the use of a mask for the first five days after isolation. If you have to be around people when you isolate, the CDC recommends wearing a mask.

Free Press staff writer Kristen Jordan Shamus contributed to this report.

Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How metro Detroit school districts are watching for COVID-19 cases