Illinois schools will soon see changes to COVID-19 isolation and quarantine requirements

Illinois schools will soon receive new guidance about isolation and quarantine times to align with federal school guidance on COVID-19, the Illinois State Board of Education said in a tweet Friday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated school guidance on Thursday to align with shorter isolation and quarantine times recommended in December.

The new guidance recommends an isolation or quarantine time of five days, followed by continued masking for an additional five days.

The Illinois State Board of Education did not say when the change will go into effect, just that it and the Illinois Department of Public Health would be releasing updated guidance “soon.”

“Combined with continued adherence to universal indoor masking and highly effective vaccines, these changes will allow more students to stay safely in-person,” the Illinois State Board of Education wrote in a tweet.

Several school districts in the metro-east had to cancel school or switch to remote learning this week because of staffing shortages related to COVID isolations or quarantines.

This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 10:50 AM.