Colorado students and school staff exposed to COVID-19 can now avoid quarantining through a test-and-mask program announced by the state Tuesday.

The “test to stay program,” as the state Department of Public Health and Environment dubbed it, allows students and staff who’ve been exposed to COVID-19 but are asymptomatic to stay in the classroom if they test negative twice in the span of a week and wear a mask for 10 days. The goal, the agency wrote, is to “help students and staff avoid quarantine” and “reduce the burden on parents.”

If a student or staff member is exposed on a Monday, they should get tested immediately, according to the program. If they test negative, they can remain in school, so long as they continue to wear a well-fitting mask and are asymptomatic. Five to seven days later, the staff member or student needs to get tested again. If they are found to be negative again and stay asymptomatic, they can remove their masks — assuming their district doesn’t have a requirement — 10 days after their exposure to the virus. 

The program is specifically for school-based exposures, the agency wrote, but enrolled districts can “choose whether to include students who have a community-based, non-household exposure,” as well.

“We are committed to helping ensure students continue in-person learning and are providing schools with a menu of testing resources to help make that happen,” Rachel Herlihy, Colorado’s state epidemiologist, said in a statement announcing the program’s Tuesday launch. “We encourage schools to enroll in this and other testing programs so students can continue to benefit from being in the classroom.”

The program is technically open to every school and everyone in them, but it largely doesn’t apply to fully vaccinated and boosted students and staff, who would not need to quarantine anyway. 

“Unvaccinated individuals who choose not to participate in Test to Stay and who are exposed to a positive case at school will not be allowed to remain at school and will need to complete the normal five-day quarantine,” the state health department wrote, “followed by five days of wearing a well-fitting mask in school.”

To facilitate the program, the health department said it was providing rapid at-home tests, which schools can then distribute to participating and eligible staff and students. Participants will then report their test results via an online portal.