How many days after recovering from norovirus can one return to school?

Under normal circumstances, after recovery from a norovirus infection, individuals should wait until all symptoms have completely disappeared for 48 hours before returning to school. By this time, their infectivity is significantly reduced, helping prevent the spread of the virus in school settings. Detailed explanations are as follows:

Norovirus is highly contagious and primarily spreads via the fecal-oral route. Even after symptoms resolve, infected individuals may continue shedding the virus for 1–3 weeks. When symptoms first subside, the virus may not yet be fully cleared from the body, meaning feces, vomit, or contaminated objects can still carry infectious viral particles. Schools are crowded environments with frequent close contact among children. Returning to school too early increases the risk of transmitting the virus to classmates through shared items or respiratory droplets, potentially causing outbreaks. The 48-hour waiting period is based on the known pattern of viral shedding; for most people, viral load decreases to a safe level within this timeframe, greatly reducing transmission risk.

In daily life, it's important to cultivate good handwashing habits in children, especially before meals and after using the toilet, and to handle raw and cooked foods separately. After a child becomes ill, the home environment should be thoroughly disinfected using chlorine-based disinfectants, with special attention to areas contaminated by vomit or excreta. This helps break the chain of virus transmission at its source and protects both individual and public health.