Dear Franklin Franklin Families,
We are reaching out today to provide the latest information regarding quarantine guidance should you plan to travel outside of New England over vacation. You may contact your school nurses if you have any questions or need more information. We ask that you contact your school principal if you are traveling outside of New England so they are aware of your student's status after vacation.
Travel Quarantine Guidance
Travelers/visitors to AND residents of NH need to self-quarantine for 10 days following the last date of any high risk travel, which includes travel internationally (including to/from Canada); on a cruise ship; or domestically outside of the New England states of Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, or Rhode Island for non essential purposes.
People meeting the criteria for high-risk travel have the option of ending their quarantine after day 7 by getting a test on day 6-7 of their quarantine to test for active SARS-CoV-2 infection (SARS-CoV-2 is the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19); this test must be a molecular test (e.g., PCR-based test); antigen tests are not accepted for this purpose. If the test is obtained on day 6-7 of quarantine, the person is asymptomatic, and the test is negative, then the person can end their quarantine after 7 days, but they must still self-observe for symptoms of COVID-19 and strictly adhere to COVID-19 mitigation measures (social distancing, avoiding social and group gatherings, wearing a face mask when around other people, practicing frequent hand hygiene, etc.). Any new symptoms of COVID-19 should prompt the person to isolate and seek testing again (even if the person recently tested out of quarantine). This 7-day quarantine “test out” option ONLY applies to travel-related quarantine (not quarantine due to a high-risk close contact exposure to a person with COVID-19).
Exceptions to Travel Quarantine
The following people do NOT need to quarantine after high-risk travel:
1. Persons who are 14 days beyond the second dose of their COVID-19 vaccine (i.e., 14 days after full vaccination).
2. Persons who are within 90 days of a prior SARS-CoV-2 infection that was diagnosed by PCR or antigen testing (if a person had a previous infection that was more than 90 days prior, then they are still subject to travel quarantine).
Such persons, however, still need to monitor themselves for symptoms of COVID-19 daily, practice social distancing, avoid social and other group gatherings, always wear a face mask when around other people, and practice good hand hygiene at all times.
If you have qualifying exceptions to quarantining please contact your nurses to provide appropriate documentation of vaccine or covid status.
Link to official document from NH DHHS:
Thank you,
Dan LeGallo Diana Merriam BSN, RN
SAU 18 Superintendent FHS Nurse
dlegallo@gm.sau18.org District Health Coordinator
(603) 266-9833 (603) 934-5441 Ex 3452
Cecile Fligg RN
PSS Nurse
(603) 934-4144 Ex 1202
Tinya Rivard
FMS Nurse
(603) 934-5828 Ex 2009