(Radio Iowa) – State officials are making a change to the guidelines for quarantining students and staff in schools who’ve been exposed to someone who’s tested positive for Covid-19. State medical director Dr. Caitlin Pedati says if the person with Covid AND those who were around them have consistently worn a face mask, only those with symptoms or who’ve tested positive will have to quarantine for two weeks.

(as said) “Now the (Centers for Disease Control) does currently still recommend that individuals who’ve been in close contact should quarantine even if they’re wearing face coverings,” she says. “However…we’ve gotten some information from here in Iowa as well as from some of our neighboring states that help us to adjust our current recommendation.”

Pedati says she reviewed Covid case counts in four school districts in northwest Iowa’s Sioux County. The three districts where face coverings were NOT required had between 30 to 130 percent more Covid cases among students and staff. Governor Kim Reynolds says the change is being made after superintendents from across the state expressed frustration about how many students and staff have had to be quarantined.

(as said) “In some situations, they’re having to quarantine a disproportionately high number of students when just a few positive cases have been identified,” Reynolds says.

The governor says public health officials in Nebraska and Wyoming are also changing quarantine guidelines for schools in those states.