Schools and Child Care COVID-19
Best Practice Recommendations and Case Reporting

On this page:
Reporting cases of COVID-19
Operational guidelines for schools child care, youth programs, and camps
Managing cases and exposures
Additional resources

Reporting cases of COVID-19

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has made changes to COVID-19 reporting for Minnesota pre-K through grade 12 schools and child care settings as of Aug. 1, 2023.

• Certified child care centers, licensed child care centers, and licensed family child cares are no longer required to report cases of COVID-19 as of August 1. If you have questions about respiratory illness in your facility, please email health.schools.covid19@state.mn.us.
• Pre-K through grade 12 schools: Use the Respiratory Illness and Gastrointestinal Illness Outbreak Reporting to report a respiratory illness outbreak including COVID-19 when 10% of your student enrollment is absent with respiratory illness on a given day. If you have questions about this system, email health.schools.covid19@state.mn.us.
  • Respiratory Illness Outbreak and Gastrointestinal Illness (GI) Outbreak Reporting for K-12 Schools (PDF)
    Overview of the new reporting system, combined illness reporting, and when to report.
  • Respiratory Illness and Gastrointestinal Illness (GI) Outbreak Reporting Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Operational guidance for schools, child care, youth programs, and camps

MDH recommends that schools, child care, youth programs, and camps implement a core set of infectious disease prevention strategies as part of their normal operations and layer additional prevention strategies specific to COVID-19 to the extent possible in response to changing local situations, including periods of increased community health impacts from COVID-19. While written for COVID-19 prevention, this guidance can also help prevent the spread of other infectious diseases and support healthy learning environments for all.

• CDC: Operational Guidance for K-12 Schools and Early Care and Education Programs to Support Safe In-Person Learning
  This guidance applies to schools, child care, youth programs, and camps.

Managing cases and exposures

Schools, child care, youth programs, and camps are strongly encouraged to develop policies and protocols around reporting of positive cases, management of case follow-up, and notification of exposed persons in alignment with public health guidance. Schools, child care, youth programs, and camps should implement these strategies to the extent possible while also considering educational needs, the social and emotional well-being of children, and the importance of children's access to learning and care.

The guide below reflects current CDC recommendations regarding when to isolate and for how long depending on a person's ability to wear a mask consistently.

• COVID-19 Isolation Guide for Schools, Child Care, and Youth Programming (PDF)
  For people who are sick or test positive.
  3/15/22

  Other languages: COVID-19 Isolation Guide  

  • COVID-19 Isolation Guide for Schools, Child Care, and Youth Programming in Hmong (PDF)
  • COVID-19 Isolation Guide for Schools, Child Care, and Youth Programming in Somali (PDF)
  • COVID-19 Isolation Guide for Schools, Child Care, and Youth Programming in Spanish (PDF)

While the CDC no longer recommends quarantine (staying home) after an exposure to someone with COVID-19, it is still recommended that people take precautions, including getting tested and wearing a mask, regardless of vaccination status or if they have had a previous infection.

• CDC: What to Do If You Were Exposed to COVID-19

Additional resources

• Infectious Diseases in Childcare Settings and Schools Manual
  Hennepin County infectious disease manual that includes parent fact sheets intended for parents/guardians of childcare and school-aged children. Refer to section 6 for communicable disease fact sheets, including COVID-19.