COVID Quarantines For NY Classrooms Will End, Hochul Says

NEW YORK CITY — New York will end the requirement that entire K-12 classrooms must quarantine if a student or teacher tests positive for COVID-19, Gov. Kathy Hochul said.

Hochul announced Monday that the state updated its coronavirus guidance for schools to align with a new set of relaxed CDC guidelines on the virus.

“The days of sending an entire classroom home because one person was symptomatic or tests positive, those days are over,” she said.

The new guidance will be released later Monday to give parents a chance to adjust before children return to classrooms in the fall, Hochul said.

The loosening of strict COVID-19 rules for schools across the state follows New York City education officials' announcement last week that in-school testing for the virus and daily health screens won't be required in the fall.

Mayor Eric Adams, when asked about Hochul's announcement, hinted the city could set down some stricter rules.

"We are going to have our own approach to COVID because New York City is unique of the dense population," he said. "But we think it's a right step in the right direction, and we're going to look at them and make the determination with our Department of Health and Mental Hygiene what we're going to do school by school, to make sure that our children are protected as best as possible."

COVID-19 cases in the city have fallen in recent weeks and currently stand at 2,556 a day on average, according to health data.

But Hochul noted that cases have spiked in the fall as students return to classrooms. She said the state will provide test kits to students from a stockpile of 20 million.

The new schools guidance calls for students and teachers to take a COVID-19 test if they feel sick, and to wear masks if they're exposed to the virus.

"If student or teacher is exposed, has a close contact who's exposed, and they don't have symptoms, they no longer have to go home, they will stay in school," she said. "And the CDC does recommend the wearing of a mask for about 10 days.

Hochul said the state is also ending "test to stay," meaning students and teachers can stay in school if they've had a COVID exposure so long as they wear masks.

Children and teachers who test positive for COVID-19 should stay home for five days and can return with a mask once their symptoms subside, Hochul said.

Schools can still require COVID-19 testing for "close contact" activities such as sports under the new guidance, she said.

"We'll leave that up to individual schools to make that determination, but it is no longer recommended from the CDC or the Department of Health that there be this random screening either," she said.