Laserfiche WebLink
rnDEPARTMENT <br />OF HEALTH <br />Guidance for Social Distancing in Youth and <br />Student Programs <br />UPDATED 5/13/2020 <br />This guidance document outlines the practical application of prevention strategies to reduce the <br />spread of COVID-19 in youth and student programming. This guidance is applicable to programs <br />authorized to operate by Executive Order 20-56 including youth programs, K-12 schools, <br />colleges, universities, and day camps. Other youth serving organization such as overnight camps <br />can use this to start planning should programming be allowed to resume at a later date. <br />Specific guidance for licensed and certified child care providers is noted on the last page of this <br />document. <br />Public health guidance is based on: <br />Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Guidance for Schools and Child Care Programs <br />(www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/index.html) <br />Implementation of Mitigation Strategies for Communities with Local COVID-19 Transmission <br />(PDF)(www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/community-mitigation-strategy.pdf) <br />MDH recognizes that each program setting is unique, and it may be difficult for the proposed <br />strategies to be implemented in every setting. Administrators are encouraged to think creatively <br />about ways to increase the physical space between staff and program participants while limiting <br />interactions in large group settings. <br />What is social distancing? <br />The term "social distancing" refers to measures being taken to restrict where and when people <br />can gather in order to stop or slow the spread of infectious disease. In general, 6 feet of separation <br />is the distance that should be kept between people interacting within their community. This <br />recommendation is most important in the setting of a large gathering where there is intermingling <br />of people whose symptom status may be hard to monitor. <br />�r�# ' £tea <br />4. <br />♦ ♦ s * <br />♦ ♦ ♦ • <br />♦ i ♦ <br /># $1 1 <br />w II .0 <br />#1 # <br />$ ♦ • 1 <br />♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ <br />f <br />Small, closed pods that serve a consistent group of participants and staff offer the opportunity to <br />more closely control the environment through monitoring of symptoms and adherence to policies <br />for people who are ill. Additionally, staff can build routines for participants to wash hands upon <br />1 <br />