GOVERNOR SAYS IT’S “REASONABLY SAFE” TO REOPEN SCHOOLS

State releases guide to help districts respond to any virus outbreaks

Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday said it’s “reasonably safe” to reopen Colorado’s schools in the coming weeks, as the state health agency released specific steps local educators should take to address any COVID-19 outbreaks within their facilities.

“Unlike parts of Texas and much of Florida, it’s reasonably safe to open schools. Just as it’s reasonably safe to go to the grocery store, just as it’s reasonably safe to go to work,” Polis said during a virtual news conference.

“That reflects a lot of sacrifices that Coloradans have made to make schools a safe place to be,” he added. “I know many kids are going to be going back in the coming weeks, including my own.”

Polis’ comments came one day after Denver Public Schools, the state’s largest district, extended remote learning through Oct. 16 for most of its students, citing increased levels of COVID-19 in the community.

The World Health Organization has advised governments that the rate of coronavirus tests coming back positive should be 5% or lower for at least two weeks before any reopenings. Denver’s positivity rate was 4.6% the week ending Sunday, leading Superintendent

Susana Cordova to announce classrooms will largely stay closed for the first quarter of the year.

The district is working with local public health agencies to develop a set of indicators to inform when students might be able to safely attend school in person, she added.

Polis’ remarks were in response to a question from a reporter about whether he would have done anything differently, such as enacting a mask order sooner, to create a safer environment under which to reopen schools — or whether he believed districts that have opted for remote learning to start the year were overreacting.

The governor didn’t answer the question directly, instead saying different districts are taking different approaches.

On Thursday, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment released statewide guidance to help schools respond in the event of confirmed COVID

19 cases or outbreaks. An outbreak is defined as two or more confirmed cases of the virus in a facility.

If a student, teacher or school staff member tests positive for the virus, they must stay home until released from isolation, defined as about 10 days after the onset of symptoms and at least 24 hours without a fever, according to the state health department.

Everyone in the infected person’s class or cohort must quarantine for 14 days, according to the guidance. If the school is not practicing cohorting or mixes cohorts, leaders should work to identify the infected person’s close contacts and have them tested within seven days or earlier if they display symptoms.

Schools should close when five or more cohorts or classrooms report an outbreak within a twoweek period; or when 5% or more of unrelated students, teachers and staff have confirmed cases within a two-week period, according to the guidance.

Schools should also close if they need additional time to clean facilities before students and staff return, if they need time to gather illness data and confer with public health experts, or if a school cannot operate because a large number of students and staff are absent.

The guidance recommends schools report single cases of COVID-19 to their local public health agencies and requires they notify local or state public health officials within four hours of all suspected and confirmed outbreaks.

Read Colorado’s guidance on how educators should handle COVID-19 cases and outbreaks in schools at covid19.colorado.gov.