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Superintendent: Billings schools reduce quarantine period for close contacts to 10 days

Billings public schools resuming alternative bus routes for weather
Posted at 4:57 PM, Dec 16, 2020
and last updated 2020-12-16 19:51:41-05

Billings schools will reduce the required quarantine time for close contacts of COVID-19-positive individuals from 14 days to 10 days- with additional safety precautions, Superintendent Greg Upham said Thursday.

Upham wrote in a letter to parents that the district was changing its policy in accordance with new guidelines implemented by the CDC Dec. 2.

The CDC had said a shortened quarantine time would slightly increase the chance an asymptomatic person could spread infection, but not by much.

Billings schools won't reduce the quarantine period to seven days, as RiverStone Health now recommends, because of limited testing available from the state, according to Upham.

Read the full letter here.

Click herefor more information on the new policy.

Click herefor the district's guide to COVID symptoms for parents