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The CDC issued new guidance to employers and the general public explaining when a person with COVID-19 may discontinue home isolation and, presumably, return to work. The CDC Guidance can be found at www.cdc.gov website.
Prior to the new guidance, the CDC recommended that anyone with a positive COVID-19 test or anyone with COVID-19 symptoms should self-quarantine for 14 days. The new guidelines allow people potentially to return to work before the end of the 14 day period. Their recommendations as to separating symptomatic employees from your general population, at work and generally, have not changed. As before, there are two main methodologies to determine when self-isolation can end – time-based analyses and test-based analyses.
The CDC Guidance states:
People with COVID-19 who have stayed home (home isolated) can stop home isolation under the following conditions:
(1) If you will not have a test to determine if you are still contagious, you can leave home after all three of these things have happened:
- You have had no fever for at least 72 hours (that is three full days of no fever without the use of medicine that reduces fevers); AND
- other symptoms have improved (for example, when your cough or shortness of breath have improved); AND
- at least 7 days have passed since your symptoms first appeared
(2) If you will be tested to determine if you are still contagious, you can leave home after all three of these things have happened:
- You no longer have a fever (without the use of medicine that reduces fevers); AND
- other symptoms have improved (for example, when your cough or shortness of breath have improved); AND
- you received two negative tests in a row, 24 hours apart. Your doctor will follow CDC guidelines.
As has been discussed for the past month, the test-based strategy can only be employed when there are tests and testing supplies available in your area. In the case of an employee testing positive for COVID-19, inform other employees of their possible exposure (without naming the individual with the positive test) to COVID-19, and make the decision as to whether you want to isolate those employees or not. All of your employees who worked closely with the infected employee should be told to self-monitor for symptoms and follow the CDC guidelines as necessary and if you choose not to send them home for isolation and monitoring.
If you have any questions, please contact Attorney Michael J. Bogdan (mbogdan@www.kwgd.com) or any member of the KWGD Labor and Employment Section.
NOTE: This general summary of the law should not be used to solve individual problems since slight changes in the fact situation may require a material variance in the applicable legal advice.