U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

10/18/2021 | Press release | Archived content

Frequently Asked Questions about COVID-19 for School Administrators

CDC provides guidance for conducting contact tracing in K-12 schools. Guidance includes information on how to prepare for a case in the school, develop policies that support contact tracing, and collaborate with local public health authorities. In addition, CDC released the Toolkit for Responding to COVID-19 Cases to assist K-12 administrators with implementation of contact tracing, including quarantine, isolation, and determination of close contacts. Please reference this toolkit for more information and guidance about quarantine and isolation; customizable case, close contact, and isolation notification letters; and decision trees to determine close contacts.

  • A close contact is defined as someone who was less than 6 feet away from a person with infection (lab confirmed or clinical diagnosis) for a cumulative time of 15 minutes or more, over a 24-hour period.
  • In the K-12 indoor classroom setting or a structured outdoor setting where mask use can be observed (i.e., holding class outdoors with educator supervision), the close contact definition excludes students who were between 3 to 6 feet of an infected student (laboratory-confirmed or a clinical diagnosis) if both the infected student and the exposed student(s) correctly and consistently wore well-fitting masks the entire time.
  • Yes. In K-12 settings, the exception to the close contact definition now includes students in structured outdoor settings (holding class outdoors with educator supervision) who were between 3-6 feet of an infected student if both the infected student and the exposed student(s) correctly and consistently wore well-fitting masks the entire time.
  • A "structured outdoor setting" is any outdoor setting that allows for supervised implementation of mask wearing and a minimum of 3 feet of distance between students. This does not include settings such as outdoor sports, recess, or other situations where monitoring of at least 3 feet of distance and correct and consistent mask use is more difficult.
  • Masking and distancing conditions in a "structured outdoor setting" should mimic the conditions in an indoor classroom setting.
  • If students are spaced more than 6 feet apart in outdoor settings, masking is not necessary.
  • The K-12 exception to the definition of a close contact does not include exposures that involved adults due to the differences in transmission dynamics between adults and children described in the science brief, Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in K-12 Schools and Early Care and Education Programs.
  • The exception to the close contact definition was specifically developed to facilitate the ability to use 3 feet of distance between students in indoor classroom settings (and now structured outdoor settings) when 6 feet distancing is not feasible.
  • Exposures in K-12 classrooms that involve adults should use the 6 feet distancing criteria in the standard close contact definition.
  • Public health recommendations for close contacts depend on vaccination status and history of prior infection in the past 90 days. For detailed guidance on public health recommendations for close contacts, including testing, masking, and quarantine, go to the Overview of COVID-19 Quarantine for K-12 Schools section in the toolkit.
  • No. Someone who tested positive for COVID-19 with a viral test within the previous 90 days, and has subsequently recovered and remains without COVID-19 symptoms, does not need to quarantine. However, close contacts with prior infection in the previous 90 days should wear a mask indoors in public for 14 days after exposure and monitor for COVID-19 symptoms; and, even after the 14 day period, universal masking is recommended in schools. If symptoms develop, they should isolate immediately and consult with a healthcare professional.