Minnesota Department of Health and local Public Health officials. 

According to MDH, isolation is when a person who tests positive for COVID-19 stays at home and away from others, even those living in the same home. This prevents them from spreading the disease to others. The isolation period for COVID-19 is at least 10 days from the start of symptoms, or from the test date if the person has no symptoms, and until 24 hours without fever, without using medicine that reduces fever, and until symptoms have improved. The period could be longer if a person’s symptoms do not improve, or the person is immunocompromised.

According to MDH, quarantine is when a person who is a close contact of someone with COVID-19 stays at home and away from others for up to 14 days to avoid spreading COVID-19 during the incubation period when they could become ill.

At this time, the Minnesota Department of Health's recommended isolation (for staff and children who test positive) is 10 days. The recommend quarantine at this time (for staff and children who were exposed to a positive case) is 14-days. 

Yes, the following individuals may not be subject to a close contact quarantine:

• Staff and children had COVID-19 in the past three months and ALL of the following are true:
  • Your illness was laboratory confirmed in the past three months.
  • You have fully recovered.
  • You do not currently have any symptoms of COVID-19.
• Staff and children who are fully vaccinated.
• Staff and children who were not considered a close contact by definition, and/or
• Staff and children who were not in attendance on the date of the exposure.

• Vaccinated staff are tested immediately following exposure, and then again five to seven days after exposure.
• Vaccinated staff consider wearing a mask at home for 14 days or until they receive a negative test result if they live with someone who is immunocompromised, at increased risk of severe disease, or unvaccinated.
• Vaccinated children and staff do not need to quarantine if they do not have any symptoms of COVID-19. Vaccinated children and staff should watch for symptoms for 14 days.
• If children and staff start to have any symptoms, they should stay home and stay away from others immediately (isolate), get tested again, and follow other recommendations on If You Are Sick or Test Positive.

*Note: The YMCA has the right to make the best decision in the interest of staff, children and facility and is not required to offer each of these options based on local and center positivity case rates. We recognize and denote there are three close contact quarantine options per the MDH. At this time, based on the high level of community transmission, the YMCA is implementing a 14-day quarantine for all close contacts.

If children and staff are exposed to a positive COVID-19 case, and are not fully vaccinated they must:

• Stay home and away from others (quarantine) for 14-days (see above note).
• Get tested immediately. If the test is negative, test again five to seven days after the last time you were close to the person with COVID-19. 
• Watch for symptoms for 14 days. If you start to have any symptoms, get tested again right away.
• If you test positive or start to have symptoms, follow the recommendations on If You Are Sick or Test Positive. All children and staff must notify YMCA child care of a positive test result immediately. 
• For more information on when to get vaccinated, refer to the "If you have had recent close contact or mild illness" section on About COVID-19 Vaccine.

The below quarantine recommendations for unvaccinated individuals are not universal. Some settings and workplaces have different rules about quarantine, but we've listed them below for informational purposes. For more information on close contact quarantines, please visit this MDH webpage.

The safest option: 14-day quarantine:

• You live in a building with other people, where it's hard to stay away from others and easy to spread the virus to multiple people, like a long-term care facility.
• You have traveled outside of Minnesota, other than crossing the border for work, study, medical care, or personal safety or security. Under certain conditions, a shortened quarantine may be possible. Note: Your travel "exposure" period ends upon arrival back home.

Under certain conditions, a 10-day quarantine may be considered if the following are true: 

• You have not had any symptoms.
• You have not had a positive test for COVID-19.
• No one ins your home has COVID-19.
• You do not live or work in a building where it's hard to stay away from others and easy to spread the virus to multiple people like a long-term care facility.
• Your contact with someone with COVID-19 had a beginning and an end. For example, your close contact happened at:
  • School
  • Sports Event
  • Work
  • Social Gathering
  • You traveled outside of Minnesota for reasons other than crossing the border for work, study, medical care, or personal safety or security, and all of the above are true. Note: Your "exposure" period ends upon arrival back home. For more information, visit Protect Yourself and Others: Traveling. 

Even after 10 days, you should still:

• Watch for symptoms through day 14. If you have any symptoms, stay home, separate yourself from others, and get tested right away, even if you tested negative earlier. 
• Continue to wear a mask and stay at least 6 feet away from other people. 

Under certain conditions and a negative COVID-19 PCR test, a 7-day quarantine may be considered only if the following are true: 

• You get tested for COVID-19 at least five full days after you had close contact with someone with COVID-19, and the test is negative. 
  • You must get a negative PCR test, not an antigen test or antibody/blood test. Learn more about the differences at Types of COVID-19 Tests. 
  • All tests offered at the state's community testing sites are PCR tests. Visit COVID-19 Community Testing Sites to make an appointment. 
• You have not had any symptoms. 
• You have not had a positive test for COVID-19. 
• No one in your home has COVID-19. 
• You do not live or work in a building where it's hard to stay away from others and easy to spread the virus to multiple people, like a long-term care facility. 
• Your contact with someone with COVID-19 had a beginning and an end. For example, your close contact happened at: 
  • School
  • Sports Event
  • Work
  • Social Gathering
  • You traveled outside of Minnesota for reasons other than crossing the border for work, study, medical care, or personal safety or security, and all of the above are true. Note: Your "exposure" period ends upon arrival back home. For more information, visit Protect Yourself and Others: Traveling. 

Even after seven days you should still: 

• Watch for symptoms through day 14. If you have any symptoms, stay home, separate yourself from others, and get tested, even though you tested negative earlier. 
• Continue to wear a mask and stay at least 6 feet away from other people. 

In general, a close contact (exposure) means being less than 6 feet from someone for 15 minutes or more throughout a 24-hour period. However, even shorter periods of time or longer distances can result in the spread of the virus. The longer someone is close to the person who has COVID-19, and the closer they are, the greater the chance the virus can spread. 

COVID-19 can take up to 14 days to make you sick. You can spread COVID-19 to others several days before you have any symptoms, or even if you never have any symptoms, so it is important to separate yourself from others after an exposure so you don’t spread the virus without knowing it. 

Regardless of vaccination status, staff and children who test positive for COVID-19 must stay home and away from others for 10 days, regardless of symptoms. It is important to follow your health care provider's advice before returning to care/work.

If symptoms are present isolation begins on day symptoms began. If no symptoms are present isolation begins on test date. Staff and children who have tested positive for COVID-19 must stay home until all three of these things are true: 

• You feel better. Your cough, shortness of breath, or other symptoms are better. 
  and 
• It has been 10 days since you first felt sick. 
  and
• You have had no fever for at least 24 hours, without using medicine that lowers fevers.

100% reimbursement may be applied to tuition for days children are not in attendance due to an internal or external exposure. Available grant funding is one factor that influences the Y's ability to waive tuition.

YMCA child care exercises mitigation strategies and follows the Recommended COVID-19 Decision Tree for People in Schools, Youth Programs, and Child Care Programs.  YMCA child care’s COVID mitigation strategies fluctuate based on local and center case positivity data. 

YMCA child care also follows resources and guidelines from Infectious Diseases in Childcare Settings and Schools Manual Hennepin County infectious disease manual, in addition to our own COVID 19 Preparedness Plan. 

YMCA COVID 19 Preparedness Plan includes and describes how YMCA child care will implement, at a minimum, the following components, in compliance with MDH and CDC guidelines for child care programs: 

1. Frequent hand washing
2. Cleaning and disinfecting
3. Arrival and departure
4. Social distancing throughout the day
5. Plans for identifying and excluding sick staff, volunteers and children
6. Source control and cloth face coverings
7. Workplace ventilation
8. Playground use
9. Meals and snacks
10. Field trip and events
11. Communication and training about the plan.

All licensed child care providers are now required to follow the three directives listed below as a part of licensing compliance. DHS may issue licensing actions including correction orders, fines, conditional licenses, revocations, and suspensions to providers who do not comply with the MDH guidance and recommendations related to COVID-19 as specified below.  

Under the pandemic planning provision of the Minnesota Human Services Licensing Act, child care license holders are required to comply with the following MDH guidance and recommendations for child care settings:  

• Report Cases: Report cases of COVID-19 to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). Minnesota Rule 4605.7070 requires any person in charge of any institution, school, child care facility, or camp to report cases of COVID-19 to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). Use the COVID-19 Case Report Form for K-12 Schools, Childcares, and Youth Programming (Camps, Sports, Extracurricular Activities) to report each child or staff member who receives a positive test result. 
• Notification: Notify the parent/guardian of a child who is identified as a close contact of someone who tested positive for COVID-19. MDH has a template letter to use for this purpose. The letter explains that the close contact should stay home and not go to child care during their quarantine period. Providers may elect any of the quarantine options outlined in the template letter, to the extent the option aligns with MDH’s Best Practices for Handling a Confirmed Case of COVID-19.  
• Quarantine and Isolation: Exclude/quarantine children and staff who test positive for COVID-19 and those who have had close contact with someone who receives a positive test result based on the Best Practices for Handling a Confirmed Case of COVID-19. Identification and quarantine of close contacts plays an important role in minimizing the spread of COVID19. Questions related to the Best Practices for Handling a Confirmed Case of COVID-19 document can be directed to MDH at health.schools.covid19@state.mn.us.

A person who tests positive for COVID-19 must report the confirmed case to the Child Care Leadership team and are required to stay at home and away from others 10 days from the day symptoms started, or if no symptoms are present, 10 days from the test date.  Additionally, 

• If someone in your household gets sick, do your best to keep them away from others in the house. Have one person take care of the person who is sick. Stay 6 feet away from the person who is sick as much as you can, even if you are vaccinated. Both caregivers and the person who is sick should wear a mask when in the same room. 
• Caregivers and anyone who has been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19 should stay home, except in limited circumstances. Learn about when and how to quarantine: Close Contacts and Quarantine.

When you live with someone who has COVID-19, you should quarantine during the time they might be contagious (their isolation period), as well as the time you could develop COVID-19. This may mean you need to quarantine for 24 days or more. Your 14-day quarantine period starts the day after the person you live with completes their isolation period. This is usually: 

• 10 days from the day their symptoms started. 
• If they didn't have symptoms, 10 days from the day they got tested. 

If multiple people in your home have COVID-19, your 14-day quarantine period starts after the last person has completed their isolation. 

YMCA child care’s COVID mitigation strategies fluctuate based on local, and center case positivity data. A community task force is developing a tiered system of additional mitigation strategies that correlate with local and center case positivity rates and close contact quarantine length.

All child care center parents and families will be notified within 48 hours via email that a member of our child care program has tested positive for COVID-19. 

When a positive case is identified, YMCA leadership reports the positive case to MDH and Public Health.  Close contact tracing is completed, and close contacts are notified by phone. Parents and staff are given the exposure date and required quarantine timeline with a return to care/work date. An email notification with a close contact letter is emailed to those considered to be close contacts. 

We understand. Know that even if it was determined to go to a shorter quarantine option, you could still your child home for the MDH recommended 14-day period or until you felt safe to return. A community task force is developing a tiered system of additional mitigation strategies that correlate with local and center case positivity rates and close contact quarantine length.

We are evaluating if other options are available to the YMCA. This decision includes understanding our liability and legal risks associated with that decision, along with local and center case positivity rates. We must continue to do everything we can to keep all of our kids, and our community safe. 

A community task force is developing a tiered system of additional mitigation strategies that correlate with local and center case positivity rates and close contact quarantine length.

The YMCA is doing everything we can to make sure our staff members are healthy before they come to work. To keep our staff team as strong and healthy as we can, it is important that children are healthy before they come to care each day, and that no one in the household is experiencing symptoms, or has been a close contact of COVID-19.  

To best manage questions related to child care, we will be creating a fillable form on our website to allow us to better streamline and monitor all questions to help with timely responses. 

According to Recommended COVID-19 Decision Tree for People in Schools, Youth, and Child Care Programs less common symptoms are: sore throat; nausea; vomiting; diarrhea; chills; muscle pain; extreme fatigue/feeling very tired; new severe/very bad headache; new nasal congestion on/stuffy or runny nose. 

Per the YMCA child care handbook, children may be sent home with one less common symptom, but do not need an evaluation from a doctor or healthcare provider to return to care.

If your child has two less common symptoms, your child must stay home or will be sent home. The child should be tested for COVID-19 and have an evaluation from a doctor or health care provider.  Siblings and all household members who are not fully vaccinated or have not tested positive for COVID-19 within the last 90 days are excluded from (should not attend school, child care, and all other activities) until the ill person is tested and results are known. 

According to Recommended COVID-19 Decision Tree for People in Schools, Youth, and Child Care Programs more common symptoms are: fever of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher; new cough or a cough that gets worse; difficulty/hard time breathing; new loss of taste or smell. 

If your child has one more common symptom, your child must stay home or will be sent home. The child should be tested for COVID-19 and have an evaluation from a doctor or health care provider.  Siblings and all household members who are not fully vaccinated or have not tested positive for COVID-19 within the last 90 days are excluded from (should not attend school, child care, and all other activities until the ill person is tested and results are known.