Do you test after known exposure or just wait it out?

[mikala]

If you wait to isolate him until after he tests positive or has symptoms it would be too late. The girls would have to quarantine if he got sick since they aren’t vaccinated and would have been exposed. Your best bet to keep them out of quarantine would be to isolate him, though at this point he would have already exposed them if he tests positive I think.

ETA I would definitely test him 5 days post exposure.

I agree with this.

[mikala]

If you wait to isolate him until after he tests positive or has symptoms it would be too late. The girls would have to quarantine if he got sick since they aren’t vaccinated and would have been exposed. Your best bet to keep them out of quarantine would be to isolate him, though at this point he would have already exposed them if he tests positive I think.

ETA I would definitely test him 5 days post exposure.

I agree with this.

[Melaine]

Hoping since the child was presymptomatic at exposure we’ll get lucky and won’t have an issue. We just don’t have the space in our home to quarantine a healthy child otherwise I would. Just have to risk it at this point. I’ll definitely test him tomorrow which will be day 5.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Are you willing to consider vaccinations? Too late to help now but the quarantines are so avoidable. Our homecoming king missed homecoming because he wasn’t vaccinated. He wasn’t even opposed to it.. just “hadn’t gotten around to it.”


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[MSWR0319]

Hoping since the child was presymptomatic at exposure we’ll get lucky and won’t have an issue. We just don’t have the space in our home to quarantine a healthy child otherwise I would. Just have to risk it at this point. I’ll definitely test him tomorrow which will be day 5.

If this situation happens again, you could mask him as soon as you find out. So if he's in an area of the house with people he (or whoever is quarantined) needs to mask but they can take it off if they're in a room on their own.

[carolinamama]

When we have had an exposure, the exposed person has stayed as separate from everyone else as possible. When out of their bedroom, they wear a mask (and usually the unexposed) and we end up eating meals outdoors if together. Test on day 5-6. They have all played along to avoid missing activities. DS1 and DS2 are vaccinated but I think the rules are somewhat different for exposures in the household than community so it would land them in quarantine for our schools.

[PZMommy]

My district requires testing AFTER day 5. Usually on Day 6, and then can return day 8. I will say this is not fool proof. Just at my school alone, we have had 3 instances of a person testing negative on day 6, they return on day 8, but when they take their weekly test on day 9 or 10 it has come back positive and the whole group has been sent back out. I really think they need to go back to the 10 day quarantine and require a test on day 10 again. In these cases it was the sibling of the positive case. They are getting way more exposure than just a close contact at school, but the district doesn’t distinguish between those types of contacts.

[carolinacool]

I get my kids tested 5 days after exposure because it reduces their quarantine requirements for school from 10 days to 7 days. It is free and not difficult to get tested here, so I see no reason not to.

This is what we did when DS was exposed at his Y soccer game a couple of weeks ago. He ended up missing four days of school, but it was a really screwy situation. Since the Y couldn’t pinpoint actual close contacts, anybody who played in the game on either team was considered exposed. Our middle school principal told another parent that if the exposure happened outside of school or school activities and does not involve anyone in the actual household being diagnosed, the quarantine rules are a bit up in the air. Several parents had their kids tested, got their negative result, and sent them back to school. I tried to follow what I thought were the rules.

Everybody was at practice a few days ago (12 days post exposure), so it looks like nobody else came down with it.

[flashy09]

I have tested us all in similar situations. It's easy and free here both PCR (usually same day results) or rapid and prevents a lot of social headaches to know early as possible.

[squimp]

Hoping since the child was presymptomatic at exposure we’ll get lucky and won’t have an issue. We just don’t have the space in our home to quarantine a healthy child otherwise I would. Just have to risk it at this point. I’ll definitely test him tomorrow which will be day 5.

They can shed virus several (2-3 days) prior to symptoms.

Our county health department has really clear policies about quarantine that the schools apply. If you haven't been vaccinated, quarantine is 14 days since exposure. If you have been vaccinated, you are able to stay in school unless you have symptoms. Once you have symptoms, you have to isolate for 10 days since symptoms began. They recommend a test 3-5 days after exposure.

My vaccinated high schooler got COVID from an unvaccinated teammate who was symptomatic for several days before they isolated. The most important lesson we learned is that you should isolate if you have any symptoms. And if you're vaccinated you don't have to quarantine without symptoms, but if you're not, you miss 14 days of school and activities.