Coronavirus latest: Florida scraps quarantine requirement for children exposed to Covid-19

Florida has given parents more authority in deciding whether to send children to school after being exposed to people who have Covid-19, following updated guidelines issued by the health department.

The state’s new surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, on Wednesday issued an update to an emergency rule, dropping a requirement for public school students exposed to Covid-19 to quarantine for several days, pointing to a need to minimise the amount of time students are away from in-person learning.

“Schools shall allow parents or legal guardians the authority to choose how their child receives education after having direct contact with an individual that is positive for Covid-19,” Florida’s health department said in the updated rule.

If the student remains asymptomatic, parents or legal guardians are allowed to send the student to school, related activities or be on school property “without restrictions or disparate treatment”.

The previous emergency rule, signed in early August by former state surgeon general Scott Rivkees, said students who are known to have come in contact with an infected person had to remain off campus for at least four days and would need to be asymptomatic and receive a negative Covid-19 test before returning.

Ladapo’s appointment was announced on Tuesday by governor Ron DeSantis. The move is regarded by some as controversial given the new surgeon general’s scepticism towards coronavirus measures such as mask mandates and Florida becoming one of the hotspots for the Delta variant of Covid-19 over summer.

New York City also took steps this week to ease quarantine rules for unvaccinated students, who will no longer be required to stay home after coming into contact with a Covid-positive child as long as they were following mask and social-distancing protocols.

DeSantis has long insisted on the need to bring students back to classrooms for in-person learning and has favoured parents’ ability to choose whether their child should wear a mask over being subject to a school mandate.

The updated emergency rule could complicate legal efforts by some parents and school districts to challenge DeSantis’ statewide ban on mask mandates.