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Here's your GFT eUpdate for September 24, 2021

DPHSS Issues Guidance Memos 2021-28

Today, the Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS) issued DPHSS Guidance Memo 2021-28, which provides additional guidance relative to persons with a documented previous COVID-19 infection. Individuals who have contracted and recovered from COVID-19 within the previous ninety (90) days and show no symptoms of infection may be eligible for exemption from weekly COVID-19 testing. Individuals seeking such exemption must present the following documents to their immediate supervisor:

• Valid positive COVID-19 molecular or antigen test result collected between 10 to 90 days prior; OR,
• Valid positive COVID-19 molecular or antigen test result collected within 10 days and a subsequent clearance from a physician, clinic, or a health department.

At the expiration of the 90 day period following an individual’s positive COVID-19 test, the individual will be required to test for COVID-19 for diagnostic and screen testing purposes. If you develop new symptoms, please talk to your healthcare provider.

To view DPHSS Guidance Memo 2021-28 in its entirety, CLICK HERE.

Schools must be safe, welcoming—and open

by Randi Weingarten

President, American Federation of Teachers

Students are settling into the third straight school year disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. Since Aug. 1, I have been on the road visiting public schools (link is external) in 30 communities in 14 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. I’ve sensed the trepidation students, parents and school staff feel; how could they not, with the delta variant surging? But what’s even more apparent is their excitement—and educators’ dedication to making in-person schooling safe, welcoming and joyful. That’s why it’s all the more frustrating that preventable outbreaks of COVID-19 (link is external) are leading to widespread school closures, quarantines, illness and even death.

Our kids need to be in school and to stay in school. As I have said since the earliest days of the pandemic, safety protocols are not barriers to in-person learning—they are the way back. Schools have no higher priority than protecting the lives of students and staff. The AFT has consistently advocated for safe in-person schooling with layered mitigation measures that include masking, physical distancing, surveillance testing, ventilation upgrades and—the most effective way to protect lives—vaccination. Educators are leading the way with one of the highest vaccination rates of any profession; prior to any mandates, 90 percent of AFT educator members were fully vaccinated to protect themselves and others.

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