Coronavirus: Dayton Children’s creates guide for screening in schools

Bellbrook Intermediate released their students after the first day of school Monday August 17, 2020 JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Credit: JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Credit: JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Bellbrook Intermediate released their students after the first day of school Monday, Aug. 17, 2020. JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Dayton Children’s Hospital released guidelines for coronavirus screening for students and staff returning to in-person schooling.

The protocols were created by the hospital’s Back to School Task Force, which has been working with the Ohio Department of Health, local health departments, area school districts and the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association.

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The task force created an algorithm to guide coronavirus screening and determine how to help children with symptoms of the virus. The team also created a guide for screeners explaining how to apply the algorithm to different situations.

The algorithm looks at if a person has been exposed to someone diagnosed with coronavirus in the last 14 days and what symptoms they are showing. Depending on their symptoms and exposure level, the student or staff member could return to class, self-quarantine or be recommended to contact a health care provider for an evaluation.

Dayton Children’s also released different scenarios schools could face, such as a student riding the bus being diagnosed with coronavirus, and offered guidelines on who should quarantine and who should be evaluated by a health care provider.

The hospital used information from the Centers for Disease Control to create the protocols, which were then reviewed by the ODH, Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County and others in the community.

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