The Monroe County Community School Corporation announced Tuesday that students who exhibit symptoms of COVID-19 will be allowed to return to school if they produce a negative rapid antigen test.
This expands the type of test result MCCSC accepts to allow students to return to the classroom. Previously, only PCR nose swab tests were accepted.
Read: Here's How MCCSC Will Make Decisions About Online Learning During COVID Pandemic
MCCSC’s announcement said the test will need to be performed by a healthcare professional, and this type of test is available at IU Health Riley Physicians on Landmark Ave. in Bloomington to children who’ve been symptomatic for five days.
Read: Here's Where You Can Still Get Tested For COVID-19 In Monroe County
MCCSC will not accept results from an at-home test, and isn’t changing its policy of what students need to do when returning to school “after illness with symptoms that could be COVID-19.” The district’s policy on close contacts quarantining also has not changed.
MCCSC said its change in policy is based on increased prevalence of the delta variant and evidence that it is more contagious. The corporation’s statement adds the policy change is meant to help response times and identify COVID-19 in classrooms faster as well as reduce the time students are out of the classroom.
MCCSC said the change is consistent with direction from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, the Indiana Department of Health, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
