Holiday Travel: A Message from Washington County

Holiday Travel: A Message from Washington County
Posted on 11/20/2020
Please view the following letter from Washington County:

CLICK TO VIEW DOWNLOADABLE PDF OF LETTER

UPDATED  NOVEMBER 20, 2020

As the holiday season is upon us, this time of festivities and gatherings with family and friends present many challenges and choices in continuing to remain safe and healthy for yourself, your family and our communities as well.

Our schools and community members throughout the county have continued making lifestyle changes to keep the COVID-19 exposure to a minimum. Thanks to the many sacrifices and safe choices made in our communities, including mask wearing, hand washing, and physical distancing, all of our school districts have been able to return to learning for the 2020-2021 school year, utilizing multiple methods depending on the district, grade level and student.

Whether travel is involved in your holiday plans or not, if you have a family member or child in your home not feeling well, encourage them to STAY HOME and not subject others in the community and places they visit to a potential exposure.

GOVERNOR’S MICROCLUSTER ACTION INITIATIVE
The Governor’s MicroCluster initiative designates geographic zones of increased infection / positivity rates, identified as yellow, orange, and red. Depending on the metrics and statistics as set forth in the Governor’s initiative, even being identified as a yellow zone could potentially force some or all of our schools to transition to 100% remote learning. Though the mandates for the yellow zone allow for schools to remain open, those schools remaining open must initiate minimum testing requirements and conduct random COVID-19 testing of 20% of the total in-person student, staff and teacher population following being designation of a yellow zone* (refer to NYS DOH guidance on frequency of testing and intervals).

While our education partners in all of our communities continue working hard to plan for implementation of the mandatory minimum testing, should our area be identified as a yellow zone, there is a potential we as the county, and some or all of the districts in our region may not have the resources immediately available (or access to) to comply with the testing requirements and may be forced to return to 100% remote learning for some or all of the time period in the yellow (or higher) zone designations. We continue to recognize and acknowledge the dedicated work of each and every one of our school districts, their staff and communities to keep our schools safe and healthy places for our youth to learn!

As of now, the Governor’s MicroCluster Action Initiative changes by color are outlined further: UPDATED NOVEMBER 20, 2020 School Testing Requirement of 20% Private Gatherings limited to under 10 people currently Washington County, NY – Holiday Travel Message to School Communities

November 20, 2020: YOUR FAMILY VISITS AN AREA ON THE NYS TRAVEL ADVISORY If your family travels to a State (or outside the country to a Level 2 or 3 country) not contiguous to New York State and for more than 24 hours, all travelers are subject to a 14 day quarantine upon return to New York. The New York State Department of Health requires anyone traveling out of the State with plans to return to NYS to complete a Traveler Health Form. It does not matter how your family travels (airplane, car, bus, train etc.). This form along with details about the travel advisory can found online at https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/covid-19-travel-advisory . Failure to comply with the travel advisory could result in a mandatory quarantine order and even a fine. As previously noted, a new “test-out” of quarantine option has been added for travelers from noncontiguous states, provided all testing requirements are met (detailed below).

NYS TRAVEL ADVISORY “TEST-OUT” OF QUARANTINE OPTION As stated above, if your travel was to a non-contiguous state, once you return to New York, your entire family is expected to quarantine at home for 14 days. This means your child will not be allowed to attend in person classes for their quarantine period. The new “test-out” provision, added to the NYS Travel Advisory effective November 4, 2020, allows for “test-out” of quarantine provided all listed provisions are met:  

For travelers who were in a non-contiguous state for more than 24 hours:
o Travelers must obtain a negative COVID test within three days of departure from that state.
o The traveler must, upon arrival in New York, quarantine for three days.
o On day 4 of their quarantine, the traveler must obtain another COVID test. If both tests come back negative, the traveler may exit quarantine early upon receipt of the second negative diagnostic test. *Testing under these circumstances in NYS must be coordinated either through a PCP (Primary Care Provider) or third party testing location (i.e., pharmacy, commercial testing center) – Public Health will not coordinate travel advisory “test-out” testing.

For travelers who were in another state for less than 24 hours:
o The traveler does not need a test prior to their departure from the other state, and does not need to quarantine upon arrival in New York State.
o However, the traveler must fill out our traveler form upon entry into New York State, and take a COVID diagnostic test 4 days after their arrival in New York.

If a family does not complete the Traveler Health Form and it is discovered your child traveled to a quarantine state, you will be contacted by the school and asked to pick up your child from school as soon as possible. Your child will be removed from their class and isolated until you arrive and pick him/her up.

Families with any symptoms should self-quarantine if someone in their household is tested for COVID until the test results come back on a guest or household member. They should not be out in the community if someone with whom they have had direct contact is being tested for COVID and they are not feeling well.

NOTE: The “test-out” option program is being managed directly by the New York State Department of Health (DOH), all communications between a returning traveler choosing to “test-out” are with NYS DOH, which include daily electronic check-ins, reporting of test results directly to DOH and release from quarantine will come directly from NYS DOH.

YOUR FAMILY HOSTS GUESTS FROM AREA ON THE NYS TRAVEL ADVISORY Your family hosts guests from a State (or Level 2 / 3 Country) not contiguous to NYS. Your guests should have completed the NYS Traveler Health Form before arriving in our area and will need to quarantine upon arrival and either follow the full “test-out” provisions (outlined in the above scenario) or quarantine for the 14 day period or duration of their stay (if less than 14 days). They will also need to check their temperatures and monitor symptoms daily, which will receive daily contact and check-ins from our state partners or Contact Tracing team.

YOUR FAMILY HOSTS GUESTS FROM AREA ON THE NYS TRAVEL ADVISORY - CONTINUED Your guests should minimize interactions with family during their stay. They should wear a mask at all times when interacting with family and strive to maintain a 6-foot distance from others. Your guests should also have a separate bathroom and bedroom to use whenever possible.

Guests should not go shopping or leave the residence they are staying at for the duration of their stay or quarantine, whichever is shorter. Extra time should be spent cleaning and disinfecting commonly touched surfaces (door knobs, faucets, handrails etc.).

Your child will be allowed to continue attending in-person and virtual classes, but monitoring for COVID-19 symptoms is a must.

If you, a household family member or one of your guests becomes ill and gets tested for COVID-19, the results of the test could change your child’s ability to attend in-person classes.
If the tested person receives a negative COVID-19 test result, your child would be allowed to continue with in-person classes as long as they do not have symptoms.
 If the tested person receives a positive COVID-19 test result, your child will be required to quarantine for 14 days regardless of a negative COVID-19 test for your child.

Also, all other family members deemed as an exposure to the sick guest will be required to quarantine for 14 days as well, regardless of a negative COVID-19 test.

Families with any symptoms should self-quarantine if someone in their household is tested for COVID until the test results come back on a guest or household member. They should not be out in the community if someone with whom they have had direct contact is being tested for COVID and they are not feeling well.

Should any of these situations arise, our Public Health team will contact you and go over the quarantine requirements including the date of completion. Upon completion of the quarantine requirement, our team will also provide you a release of quarantine and direct notification to the school, stating your child has completed the required quarantine.

YOUR FAMILY VISITS OTHER AREAS OF NY OR A NON- TRAVEL ADVISORY AREA You/your child or your guests travel within New York State or to states contiguous to New York State. The New York State travel advisory quarantine requirements do not currently apply to travel within New York State or to states / areas not part of the travel advisory list. However, bringing together family from different parts of the State or other areas (even though not part of the travel advisory) presents health safety challenges as well. It is important to monitor different parts of New York and the country for potential COVID-19 hotspots before traveling or having guests travel to you. Please ask guests not to come if they are feeling ill, having any COVID-19 symptoms or are traveling from a COVID-19 hotspot. Require guests to monitor themselves daily for fever, cough and other COVID-19 symptoms throughout their visit. If symptoms begin during their visit, have your guests isolate themselves until they leave or get tested for COVID-19. This also applies to your family as well if you travel in New York or other non-travel advisory areas to visit during the holidays.

If you, a household family member or one of your guests becomes ill and gets tested for COVID-19, the results of the test could change your child’s ability to attend in-person classes.
 If the tested person receives a negative COVID-19 test result, your child would be allowed to continue with in-person classes as long as they do not have symptoms.
 If the tested person receives a positive COVID-19 test result, your child will be required to quarantine for 14 days regardless of a negative COVID-19 test for your child. Also, all other family members deemed as an exposure to the sick guest will be required to quarantine for 14 days as well, regardless of a negative COVID-19 test.

Should any of these situations arise, our Public Health team will contact you and go over the quarantine requirements including the date of completion. Upon completion of the quarantine requirement, our team will also provide you a release of quarantine and direct notification to the school, stating your child has completed the required quarantine.

HELP KEEP OUR COMMUNITIES SAFE & HEALTHY As with any other communicable disease, COVID knows no geographical boundaries! How can you best protect yourself, family and friends from COVID-19? ⬇️:
 STAY HOME if you're not feeling well
 BE MINDFUL of your activities and those you visit
 KEEP YOUR DISTANCE (at least 6')
 AVOID gatherings (even though we all want to!)
 WASH YOUR HANDS often
 MASK UP in public places (or when you can't distance)