Tippecanoe County’s public health officer is raising concerns about the state’s decision to change COVID-19 quarantine guidelines for schools.
In an executive order issued Wednesday, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said schools where masks are worn during the school day do not have to quarantine studentswho are close contacts for COVID exposure within classrooms.
Tippecanoe County Health Officer Dr. Jeremy Adler said that order appears to be incentivizing schools to adopt a mask mandate - but it poses some problems.
“I worry there is a possibility that not quarantining students could lead to increased transmission in the schools - particularly through asymptomatic transmission,” he said. “A change like this may give people the impression that quarantine is not important or not necessary. We know that quarantine is a tried and true health intervention that works to help reduce the spread of disease.”
Adler said the health department will continue to monitor school data.
The change in quarantine guidelines came as the health department released new data on COVID-19 cases and quarantines from local public school districts.
The Tippecanoe School Corporation has quarantined over 1,600 students for COVID-19 exposure since school started on Aug. 11. Since the start of school Lafayette School Corporation and West Lafayette Community School Corporation have had 117 and 137 quarantines, respectively.
The Tippecanoe School Corporation also has 170 confirmed positive cases since school began. Lafayette School Corporation and West Lafayette Community School Corporation have had 48 and 27 apiece.
According to the Indiana Department of Education, the Lafayette School Corporation has 7,780 students enrolled, West Lafayette Community School Corporation has 2,316, and Tippecanoe School Corporation has 13,464.
Adler said it’s too soon to see the impact of requiring masking on TSC’s numbers. It was the only major local public school district that initially kept masking optional.
“In terms of quarantines, you see a large disparity between the Tippecanoe School Corporation which started the year with optional masks,” he said. “I think it’s going to take a little bit more time to see the decrease in the quarantine rate and hopefully a decrease in the case rate too.”
A spokesperson for TSC said the change in quarantine guidelines was a “welcome relief and a recognition of what we have seen in the classroom in terms of spread.”
“Last year, very few students who were placed in quarantine ended up testing positive,” the spokesperson added.
TSC began requiring masks last week after facing a disproportionately high number of quarantines.