UNION COUNTY, N.C. — Union County Public Schools will officially end contact tracing and quarantine requirements starting on Monday, Feb. 7.
It comes after the board of education and county leaders filed a joint resolution to show their support of ending the protocols last month.
In the resolution, the boards wrote, "there have been subsequent updates to the state's Strong Schools Toolkit that reduces timelines for quarantine and isolation, and we applaud the directional shift in policy and tone these changes reflect."
The resolution then reads, "however, there continues to be no end in sight for quarantine and contact tracing or even the prospect of it from the NCDHHS."
Officials stated that the virus "isn't going away" and that "we are going to have to learn to live with it in a way that doesn't unreasonably risk our children's education and mental health."
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Union County leaders reaffirm support of ending contact tracing, quarantine requirements for NC public school students
The state health department continues to push schools to follow the Safe School's Toolkit.
The Union County move comes as health leaders across state lines propose other methods of keeping more students in school while maintaining some COVID-19 protections.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) is now encouraging all school districts to implement a program called Test to Stay.
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The program, if implemented by school districts, would allow unvaccinated students who are close contacts to stay in school as long as they do not have symptoms. Students must wear a mask for 10 days and test negative with a rapid test in the five- to seven-day range after exposure.
Dr. Brannon Traxler, South Carolina's Public Health Director, said research on this method shows a lowered risk of COVID-19 spread in classrooms with kids being able to stay in person.
"By doing these layered strategies... we feel that it takes the risk down to an acceptable level compared to the benefit of keeping children in school," Traxler said.
WCNC Charlotte is part of seven major media companies and other local institutions reporting on and engaging the community around the problems and solutions as they relate to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a project of the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, which is supported by the Local Media Project, an initiative launched by the Solutions Journalism Network with support from the Knight Foundation to strengthen and reinvigorate local media ecosystems. See all of our reporting at charlottejournalism.org.