COVI-19 School Guidance Updates March 2022

(Page last updated 03-15-2022)

As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Ohio and across the nation dramatically drop, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) is updating systems to monitor COVID-19 community spread in alignment with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This will include a shift from daily reporting of cases, hospitalizations, and vaccinations to the public at:  https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/home to weekly reporting on Thursdays beginning the week of March 14.

In addition, ODH is easing requirements for case reporting by K-12 schools effective immediately.

Schools will no longer be required to:

  • Maintain a COVID-19 reporting system for parents to report positive  COVID-19 cases.
  • Have a designated COVID-19 coordinator for the district.
  • Notify parents of positive COVID-19 cases among staff, students, or coaches.
  •  Report positive cases of COVID-19 to their local health department unless the school tests a student for COVID-19 and the result is positive.

It’s important to note that quarantine and isolation measures, as outlined in the Mask to Stay, Test to Play https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/static/responsible/schools/k-12-schools-quarantine-alternative.pdf protocol for K-12 schools, will remain in effect. Mask to Stay, Test to Play supports in-person learning by allowing any student exposed to COVID-19, but not symptomatic or COVID-19 positive, to remain in school while appropriately and consistently wearing a mask.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, schools should continue to work closely with local health departments to monitor community spread and continue to report any COVID-19 clusters within your facility to: communicabledisease@schd.org. This is also a good time to remind students and parents that mitigation strategies often help reduce transmission of all infectious diseases, including COVID-19 and the flu.

  • Please encourage staff and students to stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations, including booster doses. COVID-19 vaccines and boosters are the best prevention tool we have against severe illness and death.
  • Other effective measures include frequent handwashing, good ventilation, testing if exposed or symptomatic, and staying home if sick.
  •  If community spread starts to increase again, schools are asked to consider layered prevention strategies, including masking and physical distancing. 

For more information and resources to monitor community spread, read more about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Community Levels https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/community-levels.html and check the community spread in your county.

Please direct any questions to communicabledisease@schd.org.