PPS announces health protocols for faculty and staff
Students in the Pittsburgh Public Schools will not have classes in person for at least the first nine weeks of the school year, but the district wants teachers and staff members back in the building by early October.
So what happens if an employee is infected with or exposed to the coronavirus that triggers COVID19?
Rae-ann Green, the district’s director of health services, said last week during a school board meeting that her department has developed several “scenario trees” that lay out protocols to follow if that should happen.
“It all boils down to whether they’re going to be tested or not, whether they were exposed,” Ms. Green said. “An exposure is being within 6 feet [of a COVID-19 positive person] for longer than 15 minutes, so each tree revolves around that.”
She said her department used recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop the protocols. The CDC’s guidance, however, is the baseline of what needs to be done, and the district can adjust to make its procedures more stringent, she said.
The district has protocols for confirmed positive cases, employees who become symptomatic at work, and employees who are exposed to a positive or suspected positive case of COVID-19.
If a confirmed positive case is discovered in a school or facility, a supervisor will report the case to their chief and crisis team leader. The crisis team will then meet, the building will close, and the district will search for other people who came in contact with the positive employee.
Meanwhile, the district will notify the building’s other supervisors, principal, staff members, parents and others about a confirmed positive case. Operations in a building with a positive case will be adjusted until it is determined that it can reopen. Sections of the building where the positive employee worked will be cleaned and disinfected, and the district will perform its contact tracing and monitor those who may become ill.
“Contact tracing is used in a different context here since we don’t do contact tracing outside of our building,” Ms. Green said. “We do try to see who all has been exposed and possibly need to be informed that they ask to consult with their physician for next steps.”
The protocols for employees who develop symptoms at work and employees who are non-symptomatic but were exposed to a person with or highly suspected of having COVID-19 are nearly identical.
In that scenario, the employee will be sent home and told to consult with a primary care physician.
If an employee is tested and has a positive result, the employee must isolate at home for at least 10 days from the last day of exposure, which will be determined by district contact tracing. That employee must be symptom-free for at least three days before returning to work.
An employee who tests negative but was exposed to a positive case must quarantine for at least 14 days and be symptom-free for at least three days before returning to work.
If a physician does not recommend a test, then the employee must be symptom-free for three days before the employee can return to work. However, if the district’s contract tracing determines that an employee was exposed to a positive case, the employee must quarantine for 14 days and be symptom-free for the final three days before returning.
An employee who tests negative and has no exposure to a positive case must still be symptom-free for three days before returning to work.
Even with all of these protocols in place, Ms. Green said adjustments may still become necessary.
“We have to remember that this is a constantly changing situation day by day, week by week,” she said. “So some of these things can change throughout the year and quite frequently depending on how this all plays out.”