Hudson Falls School District > Archive > Washington County COVID-19 Holiday Reminder
Posted on

Washington County COVID-19 Holiday Reminder

Holiday travel message to our school communities

As the holiday travel season approaches your county Public Health team and your school leadership want to remind families about the New York State travel advisory and how it can impact your child’s ability to attend school.

Your family visits an area on the NYS Travel Advisory

Your family travels to a State (or outside the country to a Level 2 or 3 country) on the New York State travel advisory list. The New York State Department of Health requires anyone traveling out of the State with plans to return to NYS to complete a Traveler Health Form. It does not matter how your family travels (airplane, car, bus, train etc.). This form along with details about the travel advisory can found online at https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/covid-19-travel-advisory. Failure to comply with the travel advisory could result in a mandatory quarantine order and even a fine.

Once you return to New York, your entire family is expected to quarantine at home for 14 days, regardless of a negative COVID-19 test. This means your child will not be allowed to attend in person classes for the entire quarantine period.

If a family does not complete the Traveler Health Form and it is discovered your child traveled to a quarantine state, you will be contacted by the school and asked to pick up your child from school as soon as possible. Your child will be removed from their class and isolated until you arrive and pick him/her up.

Your contact information will also be shared with our Washington County Public Health team to conduct our Public Health Investigation and Contact Tracing. A member of our team will contact you and go over the travel quarantine requirements including the date of completion. Upon completion of the quarantine requirement, our team will also provide you a return to school letter or direct notification to the school, stating your child has completed the required quarantine.

Again, we must stress that a negative COVID-19 test does not shorten the quarantine period for anyone.

Your family hosts guests from area on the NYS Travel Advisory

Your family hosts guests from a State (or Level 2 / 3 Country) on the travel quarantine list. Your guests should have completed the NYS Traveler Health Form before arriving in our area. They will need to quarantine for 14 days or the duration of their stay (if less than 14 days). They will also need to check their temperatures and monitor symptoms daily, which will receive daily contact and check-ins from our Contact Tracing team.

Your guests should minimize interactions with family during their stay. They should wear a mask at all times when interacting with family and strive to maintain a 6-foot distance from others. Your guests should also have a separate bathroom and bedroom to use whenever possible. Guests should not go shopping or leave the residence they are staying at for the duration of their stay or quarantine, whichever is shorter. Extra time should be spent cleaning and disinfecting commonly touched surfaces (doorknobs, faucets, handrails, etc.).

Oct. 29, 2020

Washington County, NY – Holiday Travel Message to School Communities October 29, 2019

Your child will be allowed to continue attending in-person and virtual classes, but monitoring for COVID-19 symptoms is a must.

If you, a household family member or one of your guests becomes ill and gets tested for COVID-19, the results of the test could change your child’s ability to attend in-person classes.

If the tested person receives a negative COVID-19 test result, your child would be allowed to continue with in-person classes as long as they do not have symptoms.

If the tested person receives a positive COVID-19 test result, your child will be required to quarantine for 14 days regardless of a negative COVID-19 test for your child. Also, all other family members deemed as an exposure to the sick guest will be required to quarantine for 14 days as well, regardless of a negative COVID-19 test.

Should any of these situations arise, our Public Health team will contact you and go over the quarantine requirements including the date of completion. Upon completion of the quarantine requirement, our team will also provide you a return to school letter or direct notification to the school, stating your child has completed the required quarantine.

Your family visits other areas of NY or a non-travel advisory area 

You/your child or your guests travel within New York State or to other areas not on the New York State travel advisory. The New York State travel advisory does not currently apply to travel within New York State or to states/areas not part of the travel advisory list. However, bringing together families from different parts of the State or other areas of the country (even though not part of the travel advisory) presents health safety challenges as well. It is important to monitor different parts of New York and the country for potential COVID-19 hotspots before traveling or having guests travel to you.

Please ask guests not to come if they are feeling ill, having any COVID-19 symptoms, or are traveling from a COVID-19 hotspot. Require guests to monitor themselves daily for fever, cough, and other COVID-19 symptoms throughout their visit. If symptoms begin during their visit, have your guests isolate themselves until they leave or get tested for COVID-19. This also applies to your family as well if you travel to New York or other non-travel advisory areas to visit during the holidays.

If you, a household family member or one of your guests becomes ill and gets tested for COVID-19, the results of the test could change your child’s ability to attend in-person classes.

If the tested person receives a negative COVID-19 test result, your child would be allowed to continue with in-person classes as long as they do not have symptoms.

If the tested person receives a positive COVID-19 test result, your child will be required to quarantine for 14 days regardless of a negative COVID-19 test for your child. Also, all other family members deemed as exposure to the sick guest will be required to quarantine for 14 days as well, regardless of a negative COVID-19 test.

Should any of these situations arise, our Public Health team will contact you and go over the quarantine requirements including the date of completion? Upon completion of the quarantine requirement, our team will also provide you a return to school letter or direct notification to the school, stating your child has completed the required quarantine.

Help keep our communities safe & healthy

As with any other communicable disease, COVID knows no geographical boundaries! How can you best protect yourself, family, and friends from COVID-19?:

  • STAY HOME if you’re not feeling well
  • BE MINDFUL of your activities and those you visit
  • KEEP YOUR DISTANCE (at least 6′)
  • AVOID large gatherings (even though we all want to!)
  • WASH YOUR HANDS often
  • MASK UP in public places (or when you can’t distance)

Washington County, NY – Holiday Travel Message to School Communities

Oct. 29, 2019

Thank you to our school personnel and communities

We extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to all of our school administration, personnel and school community members for their continued dedicated work, keeping all of our schools, students and staff members as healthy and safe as possible as we all navigate these difficult times together.

Official updates from Washington County

All official updates and information from Washington County will originate from our Public Health and Public Safety departments and will be posted on our social media sites and public information page at washingtoncountyny.gov/coronavirus.

Washington County Public Health – Social Media links:

Washington County, NY – Holiday Travel Message to School Communities

Oct. 29, 2019

Click to access Message-to-our-School-Communities-Ahead-of-Holiday-Travel-10.29.2020-2.pdf