City teacher quarantines self after trip

A city schoolteacher has selfquarantined after coming down with coronavirus-like symptoms, city officials confirmed Wednesday.

The teacher recently traveled to Italy and came back to class before noticing the symptoms, said a source familiar with the situation.

“The important thing is the teacher is self-quarantined and that’s a very good thing,” Mayor de Blasio said. “That teacher is not in contact with students and won’t be in contact with students until it’s safe to be so,” he added.

The educator has not yet been tested, de Blasio said, but will likely be tested Thursday.

None of the students at the school, whose name officials did not reveal, have shown symptoms, said Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza.

Disease detectives from the city Health Department are tracking down any students or staff who had close contact with the teacher as a precaution, an Education Department spokeswoman said, and the school is getting a deep cleaning.

The news comes as the city announced some changes to school coronavirus policy.

Officials are revamping guidance for staff and students who traveled recently to affected countries. Previously, the Education Department advised people returning from China to stay home and monitor symptoms.

A spokeswoman for the United Federation of Teachers said that in response to a unionwide email sharing CDC safety guidelines, “a handful of UFT members have reached out to us and we urged those who had traveled to an affected area and had symptoms to get immediate medical attention.”

De Blasio said the city planned to release updated procedures by Wednesday night.

Officials also announced Wednesday the suspension of a controversial policy that allowed middle and high schools to consider attendance records in their admissions decisions.