One of the challenging aspects of the presenting symptoms of COVID-19 is that they often present with other types of illness, allergies, or health conditions. After consultation with medical experts, Marshall has developed the following symptom response, reporting, and testing strategy for the upcoming school year.
All students must complete a self-screening every day before school. Students with possible COVID-19 symptoms should not come to school. Individuals with COVID-19 have a wide-range of symptoms from mild to severe. The current symptoms list includes:
Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue
Muscle or body aches
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea
Stay up-to-date on new symptoms from the CDC here.
We will follow the Minnesota Department of Health Decision Tree for determining when individuals with confirmed cases, symptoms, or close exposure to COVID-19 may not be at school, and when they can return.
- Individuals who have received a laboratory test for COVID-19
- Positive test result: Stay home at least 10 days since symptoms first appeared AND until no fever for at least 3 days without medication AND improvement of other symptoms. Siblings and household members also stay home for 14 days
- Negative test result but symptoms with no other diagnosis: Stay home at least 10 days since symptoms first appeared AND until no fever for at least 3 days without medication AND improvement of other symptoms. Siblings and household members also stay home for 14 days.
- For people with a COVID-19 diagnosis without a lab test OR people with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 without a medical evaluation (e.g., monitoring symptoms at home)
- Stay home at least 10 days since symptoms first appeared AND until no fever for at least 3 days without medication AND improvement of other symptoms. Siblings and household members also stay home for 14 days.
- For people with other diagnoses (e.g., norovirus, strep throat) that explain the symptoms, or when a health care provider says symptoms are connected to a pre-existing condition
- Stay home until symptoms have improved. Follow specific return guidance from the health care provider. If symptoms related to a pre-existing condition change or worsen, talk to a health care provider to determine next steps. Siblings and household members do not need to stay home.
Quarantine: An individual is asked to quarantine when they have been identified as a “close contact” of a confirmed case of COVID-19. A close contact is defined as any person who was within six feet for longer than 15 minutes (regardless of whether masks were worn) of someone with a positive or presumptive positive COVID-19 test or had direct contact with infectious secretions of a person diagnosed with COVID-19.
Isolation: If a community member has a positive COVID-19 test, documentation of the minimum of 14 days of home isolation is required prior to returning to campus. All Marshall families and staff must report a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19 in their immediate family within 24 hours and as quickly as possible.
Response to Confirmed Cases: If a case of COVID-19 has been confirmed within the Marshall community and the community member has been on campus, Marshall will coordinate the appropriate response and contact tracing with state and local health officials from the Minnesota Department of Health and the St. Louis County Department of Health.
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Marshall will notify community members who had close contact with the confirmed positive individual. The positive case individual’s identifying information will not be provided to those close contacts. All close contacts of a confirmed case will be required to quarantine.
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Additional notices may be required to the community for campus cleaning or changes in educational scenario. The positive case individual’s information will be kept confidential in any of these additional notices.
Privacy and Confidentiality: All personal or identifying information related to Marshall's response to COVID-19, including screening, protocol, contact tracing, and community notifications will be kept confidential. Marshall community members have a right to privacy, and certain data points outlined above must be collected for the health and safety of the entire community. Screening data will not be shared with outside third parties. Contact tracing procedures will take into consideration the necessary information to be shared with public health officials should an outbreak occur. Marshall has identified specific steps during the screening, symptom identification, and contact tracing process to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of community members during this pandemic.