Mason City Schools makes adjustments to student quarantine rules Share Updated: 7:27 PM EST Dec 11, 2020 Share Updated: 7:27 PM EST Dec 11, 2020 Hide Transcript Show Transcript IN OHIO’S STATEWIDE RAPID TEST PILOT PROGRAM TO SEE WHAT IS WORKING AND WHAT IS NOT. IN 10 MONTHS OF THIS PANDEMIC, IF WE HAVE LEARNED ANYTHING, IT IS THAT INFORMATION CHANGE DAY TO DAY AS WE LEARN MORE ABOUT CORONAVIRUS. >> AS WE KNOW MORE AND WE HAVE MORE DATA, WE CAN MA BETTER INFORMED DECISIONS. >> FOLLOWING THE LEAD OF THE CDC, THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND THE WARREN COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT, MASON CITY SCHOOLS HAS CHANGED ITS QUARANTINE GUIDELINES FOR STUDENTS OR HAVE BEEN IN CLOSE CONTACT WITH SOMEONE WHO TESTS POSITIVE. >> WE HAVE THREE OPTIONS TO THE QUARANTINE PROCESS. OPTION ONE IS A 14-DAY QUARANTINE. OPTION TWO, OPTIO B, IS PROBABLY THE MOST POPULAR OPTION WITH MOST FOLKS, A 10-DAY QUARANTINE. >> ONLY IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY SYMPTOMS THE THIRD OPTION IS TO QUARANTINING SEVEN DAYS BUT ONLY IF YOU HAVE A NEGATIVE TEST TAKEN WITHIN 48 HOURS OF THE SEVENTH DAY. BASICALLY, THAT MEANS YOU CAN TAKE A TEST, NEGATIV TEST, ON DAY 5, 6, OR SEVEN OF YOUR QUARANTINE. >> THE DISTRICT AS PART OF THE RAPID TEST PILOT PROGRAM. THIS STUDY EXAMINES SCHOOL BASED CLOSE CONTACTS ONLY. STUDENTS ARE DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS, THOSE EXPOSED IN A VOLUNTEER GROUP. >> THE FIRST GROUP IS GROUP-A, SCHOOL-BASED CLOSE CONTACT. IF YOU ARE PART OF THAT GROUP, TYPICALLY YOU WOULD BE IN THAT 14-DAY QUARANTINE OR 10-DAY QUARANTINE. >> IN FOUR WEEKS, THE DISTRICT HAS TESTED MORE THAN 300 STUDENTS, ONLY ONE HAS TESTED POSITIVE. >> THAT IS AFFIRMING THAT OUR SCHOOLS ARE REALLY SAFE BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE FOLLOWING THE SAFETY PROCEDURES >> IN THE FIRST GROUP, STUDENTS TAKE FOUR TESTS OVER T WEEKS. STUDENTS IN THE COMPARISON GROUP TAKE TWO TESTS IN TWO WEEKS. THIS IS TO SEE WHA