COVID quarantine rules ease at work and school, but child care still enforces 14-day quarantine

It's been a long 22 months for parents in this pandemic. Many have been struggling to balance work and childcare, and some are wondering why quarantines are being shortened for everyone except pre-school children.

• Vaccinated NC students exposed to COVID no longer required to quarantine
• US officials recommend shorter COVID isolation, quarantine

Jessica Hill has three kids under 6, all in day care. At any given time, at least one might be in a 14-day quarantine. If one gets a cold, all three are home till they get a negative COVID test, which given the testing situation, can take days.

"On any given day, you're juggling work and children at home," she said, "and that's certainly a challenge."

The CDC recently reduced quarantine guidliness for adults and school-aged children exposed to COVID. But so far, they haven’t done the same for pre-school children. Hill says she isn’t sure why, and no one is communicating with parents about the reason.

"There just needs to be some movement, some acknowledgment that we have better science now than we did two years ago. And that, you know, this is a stressor for for families," she said.

When it comes to the new shorter quarantines for older people, there’s a catch – the exposed person has to keep their mask on and stay socially distanced for the full 14 days. That’s something most young children are just not going to be able to do. Health officials say that’s one reason the CDC hasn’t changed its guidelines for preschoolers. Another reason is because kids under 5 can’t be vaccinated yet.

But Hill says her 5-year-old is vaccinated and still has to quarantine whenever a classmate contracts COVID. She questions whether 14 days is really necessary.

"There just needs to be some reevaluation of what's going on for some some path forward," she said.

WRAL News asked the state Department of Health and Human Services if they are considering a change. State preschool director Ariel Ford sent this statement:

"We understand the hardship and sympathize with families of young children. However, the CDC has not yet changed their COVID-19 guidance for early care and learning programs. We are poised to revise our guidance as soon as they do and have urged them to act quickly."