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Montgomery County schools to stop COVID-19 contact tracing

The school district noted that because of following health guidelines and taking vaccinations they have mitigated and minimized the spread of COVID-19.

WASHINGTON — Editor's Note: The video above was published on September 28, 2021.

Montgomery County Public Schools will no longer be contact tracing for the COVID-19 virus, according to a letter sent out by MCPS.

In the letter, MCPS states that the school district made the decision based on the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Maryland Department of Health.

Starting May 5, the school district says they will no longer identify or notify those who are in close contact with people who test positive for COVID-19. Additionally, MCPS adds that there will be notifications at the classroom, grade level or school level to inform people if there are positive cases among individual schools.

However, if there is an "identified outbreak" as described by MCPS in their letter, they will provide contact tracing and will inform the community of "additional mitigation strategies."

The school district noted that because of following health guidelines and taking vaccinations they have mitigated and minimized the spread of COVID-19. They also attribute this to another factor that was taken into consideration for dropping contact tracing practices.

Despite the retraction of contact tracing, MCPS says they will still be providing daily reports of positive COVID-19 cases for each school.

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