New Mexico’s Public Education Department on Jan. 13 announced changes to how schools in the state handle COVID-19.
According to KRQE, a revised toolkit decreases the number of days those who have to quarantine following COVID-19 exposure from 10 days to five to match with CDC guidelines.
The new five-day window is for those who have been exposed to the virus but present symptoms that aren’t severe.
KRQE reported that teachers and staff are required to quarantine after a school exposure if they haven’t yet received their booster shot. As of Jan. 12, there were 440 confirmed COVID-19 cases in schools.
Three-hundred-sixty cases last week prompted Santa Fe Public Schools to shift to virtual learning, with PED Secretary Kurt Steinhaus working to get that public school district back open by sending more test kits.
“The other thing I helped ... with is looking at the data in every school in Santa Fe,” the secretary told KRQE. “Do we need to close the whole district or just a couple of schools or even more so, is it just one grade level in school?”