Guidance for School & Child Ca​re Communicable Disease Mitigation​ ​

Tools, guidance, and resources to support healthy schools and communities in California. This section will continue to be updated as new resources are added, or new guidance is published. ​​

Public Health Guidance for TK-12 Schools & Child Care Settings 

Guidance to support safe in-person services and mitigate the spread of communicable diseases. ​​

• CDPH Tk-12 Guidance  
• CDC School Guidance ​

Managing Children with Symptoms

​This Guidance will assist decision making when a child displays symptoms of illness in child care or at school. For COVID, continue to test and follow current isolation guidance. 

• ​​Symptom ​Management ​Guidance ​

School Influenza Guidance 

Information to help reduce the spread of seasonal influenza (flu) among students and staff in K-12 schools.​

• CDPH Influenza, COVID-19 and Respiratory Illness Outbreak Quicksheet for Non-Healthcare Settings​ (PDF)
  
• CDC K-12 & Respiratory Gu​idance 
• CDPH Influenza Homepage

CalOSHA COVID Standard: Schools as a Workplace

Resources for employers and employees on COVID-19 Prevention Regulations.​

• ​​Cal/OSHA COVI​D Resources 
• ​​Cal/OSHA​ COVID​ FAQs​

Face Coverings in School

​Masks remain highly effective, inexpensive, and dynamic tools to protect oneself and mitigate transmission of respiratory viruses and pathogens in schools. 

• ​When and Why to Wear a M​​ask 
• K-12 Masking Science Brief
• Masking Tips for Children (PDF)
  

Norovirus

​Resources for public health officials to stop the spread in schools. Education agencies should contact local health departments for support. ​

• CDPH Norovirus Webpage
• Norovirus Toolkit ​for School and Childcare Center Outbreaks (PDF, 2.5 MB)

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)

​A common virus that is usually mild, cold like symptoms, but can sometimes be serious for infants and the elderly.

• CDPH RSV Webpage
• CDPH RSV Communications Toolkit
• CDC RSV Information 
  

Respiratory Viruses (Including COVID-19)

​​CDPH has shifted from COVID specific guidance to a unified approach and standard recommendations for all common respiratory viruses. ​​

Seasonal Virus Readiness

Prepare schools for winter viruses by encouraging respiratory infection immunization and spreading he word about simple community preventative measures.  

• ​Respiratory Virus Pre​ven​tion ​ 
  
• ​Ways to Stay Healthy This Winter 
  
• Fall-Winter Immunization Chart (PD​F)​

Tuberculosis

CDPH developed materials to communicate TB risk, screening, testing, and treatment information to your community, and a toolkit to assist TB contact investigation operations in schools.​

• CDPH Tuberculosis Control Branch 
• Schools Tuberculosis Toolkit ​​​​