Johnson County health officials: COVID contact tracing in schools ‘no longer feasible’
Reporting a record COVID-19 infection rate, Johnson County health officials are informing districts that contact tracing within schools “is no longer feasible.”
The Johnson County Department of Health and Environment released new guidance to schools on Tuesday, saying that due to the high level of transmission, it can no longer conduct “intensive” contact tracing — investigating who has been exposed. Officials said the priority should be asking people who test positive to stay home and isolate.
That prompted the Blue Valley school district to tell families that it will no longer provide the health department with close contact information, and that the health department will no longer notify staff and students if they may have been exposed.
The district encouraged staff and students to regularly monitor themselves for symptoms, stay home if they are sick and to get tested.
The announcement concerned many parents, some of whom said they were questioning whether to let their children return to school this week after winter break, considering mask rules have been eased. All districts in Johnson County have now made masks optional for older students while continuing to abide by the county health order requiring masks in schools that serve students up to sixth grade.
The Johnson County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to decide whether to keep the health order at its meeting Thursday morning.
The highly contagious omicron variant, combined with the delta variant, has led to skyrocketing COVID-19 cases throughout the Kansas City metro. Hospital leaders warn that they are suffering as their facilities reach capacity and staffing shortages grow worse.
Children’s Mercy reported Wednesday that 30 children were hospitalized there with COVID-19, a record for the hospital.
Johnson County on Wednesday reported an incidence rate — or the number of new cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days — of 893, a new high. It also reports a record positivity rate — or the number of positive tests over the past week — of 22.3%.
At a Shawnee Mission school board meeting earlier this week, county epidemiologist Elizabeth Holzschuh warned that the department is overloaded with thousands of new cases, and it is facing difficulties staying on top of needed contact tracing.
Schools, too, are overly burdened due to ongoing staffing shortages, made worse by the spike in transmission. School nurses and other staff have also been struggling to keep up with contact tracing in their buildings.
Some districts also have said they plan to follow new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shortening the recommended isolation period for infected individuals to five days if they are asymptomatic, followed by five days of wearing a mask when around others.
“JCDHE recommends that individuals known to be a close contact of a COVID-19 case wear a well-fitting mask for ten days after their exposure, including at all times if they remain in school and are around others,” county health director Sanmi Areola said in the guidance. “Testing on day five following exposure is strongly encouraged.”
Health officials also recommend that those who are exposed to the virus in school participate in their district’s test-to-stay program, which allows those exposed to someone with a known case to remain in school if they get tested frequently for COVID with negative results.
The health department also continues to encourage the community to get vaccinated and booster shots, and to wear well-fitted, filtering masks such as a KN95.
