Oregon changes COVID-19 exposure guidelines in schools

JACKSON COUNTY, Ore. —New guidance is being released from state health officials, to update contact tracing at K-12 schools. Under the new guidance, Oregon will no longer consider masked contact, in certain settings, to be an exposure, regardless of distancing.

That means contact tracing will not need to happen in school buses, classrooms, bathrooms, hallways, and school-related extracurricular activities, where universal masking is implemented. Klamath County Public Health says this will help schools shift resources to identify close contacts in higher-risk exposures, like indoor unmasked exposures.

“We’re really excited to see the changes in the guidance related to COVID-19 when it comes to our K-12 school systems, with ventilation, social distancing, masking, our schools are in a really good place,” said Valeree Lane with Klamath County Public Health.

Klamath County Public Health continues to encourage distances of at least 3 feet in all indoor K-12 settings to reduce exposure risks.

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Jenna King is the 6pm and 11pm anchor for NBC5 News. Jenna is a Burbank, CA native. She graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Sports Business. During her time at Oregon she was part of the student-run television station, Duck TV. She also grew her passion for sports through her internship with the PAC 12 Network. When Jenna is not in the newsroom you can find her rooting for her hometown Dodgers, exploring the outdoors or binging on the latest Netflix release.
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