Dear Parents and Guardians and Students, 
 
In order to provide transparency regarding our COVID-19 protocols, we have created this document for families based on the most updated guidelines from the San Mateo County Pandemic Recovery Framework, the San Mateo County Health Department, the WCAL as well as direction and approval from the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
 
Weekly testing will be continued moving forward in compliance with state, San Mateo County, and WCAL guidance for football and water polo. Serra is currently developing a comprehensive surveillance testing plan to meet county recommendations. 
 
We have contracted with Eurofins, a testing company, who will provide onsite testing beginning Friday, March 12 from 12-3 p.m. and every Wednesday thereafter. Eurofins will provide testing for faculty, staff and students. These results will be shared directly with the family and the school, so families will not need to share the results with Serra. If families choose to test offsite, they can go to any of the following: Kaiser, Stanford, Virus Geeks at the San Mateo Marriott and County Testing at College of San Mateo.
 
Please note that positive results should be shared immediately with covid@serrahs.com. (Families do not need to share negative test results.)
 
Positive Case:
  • The individual who tests positive will be quarantined for 10 days and will not return to campus until the following items have been completed.
  • The individual has been symptom free for at least 24 hours without fever-reducing medication.  
  • The individual has a County Clearance Letter on file. (Families can contact the SMC Warmlight to request the county clearance letter at 650-573-2002.) 
  • Please note that if the positive case is a student-athlete, he will need a doctor’s clearance and some additional requirements may be necessary depending on the severity of the symptoms.

Close Contact:
The definition of close contact is someone who was within 6 feet of a person with COVID-19 for at least 15 cumulative minutes while the case was infectious whether or not face coverings were worn. Please note that cases are considered infectious starting two days before developing symptoms or, for asymptomatic cases, two days prior to the date of their positive test.

In some school situations, it may be difficult to determine whether individuals have met this criterion and an entire cohort, classroom, or other group may need to be considered exposed, particularly if people have spent time together indoors. Please note that the most current research suggests that there may be between 1-10 percent chance of developing symptoms after day 10.

Quarantining:
Individuals who have been identified as a close contact will quarantine for a minimum of 10 days. If the individual takes a PCR test on day nine or 10 of the quarantine period and the individual receives negative results, he/she will be allowed to return to campus upon completion of the 10 day quarantine. (Rev. 3/11/21)

Concerns Regarding False Positive Tests:
As we are all aware, Serra does not play a role in the assessment of testing. In order to overturn a positive result, the same specimen has to be retested at the same lab. Thus, subsequent tests at different times do not negate the result of the first test.

We are aware that the PCR test is the most accurate with the lowest “false positive” rate. As a result, PCR tests should be used in testing to ensure that we are not getting false positive results. To further address this concern, our onsite testing through Eurofins uses PCR tests and retests any specimen that is deemed positive, to double check the accuracy and avoid the possibility of false positives.

Sincerely,