Public Health Department offers sack-to-school COVID-19 safety tips

With students, teachers, and staff fast returning to school this month, the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department is offering back-to-school tips on how to stay as safe as possible from COVID-19 during the school year.

“The most important thing every student and teacher can do to keep our school environments healthy is to stay home if you are sick,” said Dr. Penny Borenstein, County Health Officer. “Taking that step, along with other simple precautions, can help support a safe, healthy environment for in-person learning and social connection. It also helps ensure that schools do not fuel a surge in COVID-19 across the community.”

Back-to-school COVID-19 safety tips include:

• Stay home if sick. If your student is sick, even with mild symptoms, keep them at home to recover and test them for COVID-19 before they return to school.
• Test after breaks or travel. Test your child for COVID-19 after major school closures, like summer break, before they go back to school.
• Consider best fit. Masking (ideally with an N95 or KN95) provides good protection against infection and is currently recommended in indoor settings, based on SLO County’s current level of COVID-19 transmission. (SLO County is in the “high” level of CDC’s COVID-19 community levels.)
• Get vaccine protection. Prime your student’s immune system with the COVID-19 vaccine and booster. The vaccines continue to provide strong protection, especially against severe illness, and everyone over the age of six months is currently eligible.
• Stay informed. Be prepared to adjust as the COVID-19 situation evolves throughout the school year. Follow local COVID-19 data at slopublichealth.org/covidstats.

“Many of these practices are also effective in preventing the spread of common colds and the flu, which none of us want as we head into the fall and winter. Let’s all work together to keep our kids and families healthy,” said Dr. Borenstein.

For updates on COVID-19 in SLO County, visit slopublichealth.org/COVID19. Phone assistance is available at (805) 781-5500 Monday - Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.