No more general decrees at Jena's schools

After changing the quarantine rules in daycare centers, the Jena crisis team is now also responding to the changed situation in schools. From Monday, March 14, 2022, individual quarantine will be imposed as for all other people who have tested positive. Contact persons can therefore continue to take part in face-to-face lessons on the condition that the testing frequency in schools is increased in the following days. Temporary general orders for contact persons are only valid until March 14.

"Test-to-stay" approach at Jena schools

In order to make this increased presence of pupils possible, the schools will be equipped with additional high-quality test kits by the city in coordination with the education authority so that daily testing can be switched to in the days after a case of infection occurs in the affected classes. This "test-to-stay" approach is supported by the recommendations of the Robert Koch Institute and is already being used across the board in other federal states such as Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.

The city of Jena is the only region in Thuringia that has been able to establish the PCR pool test system in the Jena daycare centers, which, due to its very high accuracy, has already made the introduction of a test-to-stay approach in the Omikron wave justifiable as of this week. Thanks to the additional high-quality rapid tests in schools, this approach can also be transferred to schools from next week. What is important here, both in daycare centers and in schools, is that the available testing options must also be used after the occurrence of infections in order to enable the facilities to continue operating as safely as possible.

What changes for contact persons in school classes?

If a positive PCR result is available, the affected child will continue to be placed in quarantine immediately and without notification. All other symptom-free pupils in a class will no longer be placed in quarantine as close contacts by general decree as before, but will be given the opportunity to continue attending the institution if they participate in the extended testing system in the following days. The tests will take place in the schools. It is important to note that in addition to the tests, health monitoring is essential and that contact persons with symptoms as well as after positive rapid test results must undergo PCR testing.

Parents can decide on quarantine for their children - and receive proof of salary reimbursement

As in the daycare centers, however, parents can decide for themselves whether they want their children to attend classes in the event of a confirmed case of infection. By filling out the contact form at http://gesundheit.jena.de/de/kontaktperson, it is possible to request a quarantine order for children who are to be considered contact persons after an infection has occurred. However, it should be noted that due to the high incidence of infection, it will take some time before the health department sends out the order. We therefore ask you to use the automatically generated email as proof of quarantine if necessary. This can be used as the basis for applying for compensation.