LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — Students and employees at schools in Lake and Brevard counties could face shorter quarantine periods after positive tests or contacts with others who test positive based on new Centers for Disease Control guidelines, the districts announced Monday.

In Lake County, students and employees who test positive for COVID-19 will face only 10-day quarantine periods, down from 14.

The district is implementing the changes with the support of the Lake County Health Department, spokesperson Sherri Owens said.

After a positive COVID test, Lake students and staff may return when they meet the following guidelines:

  • No positive tests in the past 10 days
  • At least 24 hours have passed without fever and without the use of fever-reducing medications
  • Symptoms (cough, shortness of breath, etc.) have improved

Students and employees with severe illness or who are severely immunocompromised might need to be isolated for 20 days, based on the recommendation from a healthcare professional, the district indicated.

Students and staff members who test positive without symptoms may take a PCR test on Day 6 or later, the district said. If the test is negative, they may leave quarantine on Day 7. Without testing, they may return after 10 days.

People who develop symptoms while in quarantine may take a PCR test on Day 6 or later. If the test is negative, they may return to school or work after Day 7.

In Brevard County, changes affect primarily asymptomatic people who have had contact with others who had tested positive for COVID-19.

All students and staff who have had contact with someone with COVID at school but show no signs of illness or symptoms will be quarantined for 10 days and are eligible to return on Day 11. However, if those people also take part in sports or other activities in which social distancing is not possible or probable, they may return to school but sit out those activities until after Day 14.

All students and staff who have had contact with someone in their family with COVID must still quarantine for 14 days. Parents who want their child's case to be reviewed by the Department of Health as part of an epidemiological interview can request for it to be conducted on or after Day 10.

Any employee or the parent of any student who wants to exercise the option of testing to end their quarantine period early, regardless of what kind of contact to a positive case they are, must submit a copy of their test for evaluation directly to the Department of Health by FAX at 321-454-7158. DOH officials will directly communicate with the school's principal if the quarantine period will be adjusted.

For questions regarding Brevard's guidelines, contact the Florida Department of Health in Brevard County at 321-454-7101.