Maricopa County says some students exposed to COVID must quarantine

PHOENIX — Maricopa County’s health department announced effective Monday, students exposed to COVID-19 who aren’t fully vaccinated or haven’t tested positive for the virus in the last 90 days will be required to quarantine at home.

Close contacts are considered anyone who were within six feet of a person with COVID-19, while infectious, for 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour periods, Maricopa County Department of Public Health officials said in a letter.

However, if an student is in close contact with an infected student but both used fitted masks at all times, the student will not be considered a close contact and need to quarantine.

If exposed and deemed a close contact, the student is to quarantine at home for up to 10 days, MCDPH said, in accordance with Center for Disease Control and Arizona Department of Health Services guidance.

They can return to class after 10 days of isolation or if a negative test result is provided after six days, and if the child is asymptomatic.

The announcement, that will affect all public school students across the Valley, comes one month after two local school districts attempted to pass similar quarantine guidelines for unvaccinated students.

Ducey’s office informed the Peoria Unified School and Tucson Catalina Foothills School district in a letter that their plans to require a 10-day isolation period for unvaccinated students “did not comply with state law” and were discriminatory.

However, a judge on Monday allowed Phoenix Union High School to keep its mask requirement in place, further mentioning the new state law doesn’t take effect until Sept. 29.

Since the law prohibiting public schools from enacting face mask mandates was passed in late June, at least 11 districts and more than 200 schools have imposed their own mask rules.

As of Monday, at least 59 public schools in Maricopa County are dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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