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Gov. Mike DeWine says state of Ohio will review guidance for student quarantines amid COVID-19

DeWine says the state plans to take ten school buildings in Ohio and run frequent strip tests of those individuals who would normally be quarantined.

CEDARVILLE, Ohio — As schools across Ohio seek to keep their students and staff safe from COVID-19, Gov. Mike DeWine says the state plans to conduct a study in the near future about the impact of student quarantines.

During his coronavirus briefing on Tuesday, the governor said he has heard from many school superintendents concerned about the number of students meeting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) definition of close contact and being put into quarantine. 

Close contact is defined by the CDC as being within 6 feet for at least a period of 10 minutes to 30 minutes or more depending upon the exposure.  

"I've asked our team to partner with the health/scientific community to study the current guidance on student quarantine," DeWine stated, adding that his health experts have been reluctant to make change policy without more data. 

DeWine says the state plans to take ten school buildings spread out over different demographics and run frequent strip COVID-19 tests of those individuals who would normally be quarantined. The state expects to receive 120,000 strip tests every seven to ten days. 

The governor says there is no start date yet for the school test. 

"We have heard anecdotally that most quarantined students are not getting sick. I feel that it is important to have data and evidence on this before we make a change to the recommended guidance," DeWine added.

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