With Students Returning To School, Multnomah County Prepares For COVID In The Classroom

PORTLAND, Ore. – The County’s Communicable Disease Director, Kim Toevs, says she expects outbreaks in schools, “We do look towards fall, always, as the typical respiratory season for flu, for colds, and COVID will probably be on top of this one way or another.”

And so the county has implemented an outbreak team to work with school districts to make virus-related decisions, “They meet regularly with the schools and help them parse through what’s the best infection control practices that each school needs to implement if there is an outbreak and what are the prevention measures.”

She says that includes the possibility of the return of masking, “It would be more that public health at this point would be recommending (masks) to schools.”

She says students and staff need to isolate for 5 days if they’re sick with COVID and can return once they’re fever free for 24 hours “CDC does recommend a test at day 6 if they can”.

Schools no longer need to notify families of exposure to the virus