LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Some aspects of Kentucky’s “Healthy at School” reopening guidance has been relaxed by the state’s Department for Public Health, representatives told school superintendents Tuesday.

Dr. Connie White, the agency’s deputy commissioner, said based on recent guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kentucky students who either test positive for COVID-19 or have temperatures above 100.4 degrees must be without fevers for 24 hours without taking fever-reducing medicine — rather than 72 hours.

“My personal gut feeling as a physician, I liked 72,” White said during a Kentucky Department of Education webcast with superintendents. “But we can’t make state policy by Connie White’s gut, so we’re going to go with the evidence that CDC has brought to the forefront.”

Students who test positive for COVID-19 must also wait until 10 days have passed since their symptoms appeared and show signs of improvement before they’re allowed to return.

Students are not required to test negative for COVID-19 or obtain a doctor’s note before coming back to school in the revised “Healthy at School” guidance.

The guidance document also lists “new uncontrolled cough that causes difficulty breathing” as a COVID-19 symptom to prevent students and staff with chronic conditions from unnecessary exclusion, according to White.

The state has also asked school districts to consult with their local health departments before installing plexiglass in classrooms to ensure they meet fire codes.

Safety officials should ensure that such dividers are “fastened securely so they don’t fall over and hit anyone in the head” and have “smooth and beveled edges,” White said, noting that plexiglass dividers must be regularly cleaned.

“We’re allowing for provisions for (plexiglass dividers) because that seemed to be something that people really felt like was very appropriate,” she said.

The revisions in Kentucky’s “Healthy at School” guidance come a day after Gov. Andy Beshear recommended that school districts postpone reopening for in-person instruction until at least the third week of August.

As of Tuesday, the state’s COVID-19 positivity rate was 5.08% based on a seven-day rolling average of test results. The White House has recommended further restrictions in states where COVID-19 positivity rates exceed 5%.

Beshear and other state officials, including interim Education Commissioner Kevin Brown, met Sunday with Dr. Deborah Birx of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

Brown said Birx’s visit is “a sign of concern” as COVID-19 cases escalate in Kentucky.

“With the additional measures put in place of closing bars, reducing restaurant capacity and of course masking, we are hoping that the numbers will start stabilizing and coming back down so we can get back to in-person classes around Aug. 17,” he said. “That’s the hope and desire of everyone at every level of government in Kentucky and in the business and education sectors.”

The governor’s recommendation on the beginning of the 2020-21 school year could change based on the progress of COVID-19 throughout the state, said Brown, who has also suggested that districts prepare to start the school year with nontraditional instruction.

Some superintendents have asked to implement plans that limit the numbers of students inside their schools if further restrictions are recommended by Beshear, something Brown said he would share with the governor.

“If these numbers keep going up and do not stabilize or go down, we are getting into a very concerning state of affairs,” he said. “… We’re hearing you loud and clear, but just know that these decisions are being made and recommendations are being made based on the evidence and data that we have at this time in order to prevent and not get us to a place that other states to the south of us have seen.”

Emily Messerli, immunization branch manager for the Department for Public Health, said it will take buy-in from communities on masking, hand hygiene and other public health measures to ensure schools reopen next month.

“It’s a community effort to get the children back into school,” she said.

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