York County Medicine Fall 2020 - 21

YO R K C O M E D S O C . O R G

Instructions for Patients with Pending
or Positive Test Results
* Self-isolate at home.
* If the patient lives with others, self-isolate in a private room
and use a private bathroom if possible.
* Wear a mask when entering general living areas and
interacting with others.
* Monitor symptoms. Instruct patients to notify their
healthcare provider if symptoms worsen. Patients should
indicate that they are either waiting for test results or have
tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.
* Educate persons who test positive that they will be
contacted by public health staff who will interview
the patient and provide additional recommendations.
Cooperation with public health staff is essential to prevent
ongoing transmission.
* Compose a list of people with whom they were in close
contact from the period 48 hours before symptom onset
or test date for asymptomatic persons to the time at which
the patient isolated, regardless if any of the individuals were
wearing facial coverings.
Currently, close contact is defined as being within 6 feet
for 15 minutes or more, OR; Being directly exposed to
respiratory secretions (e.g., cough or sneeze).
* Persons who test positive are considered infectious 48 hours
before the onset of symptoms. Persons testing positive but
who do not have symptoms are considered infectious 2 days
after exposure (if known) or starting 2 days before test date
(if exposure is unknown).
* The decision to discontinue home isolation for persons
with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 should be made
in the context of local circumstances. Options include a
symptom-based (i.e., time-since illness-onset and timesince-recovery strategy) or a test-based strategy and are fully
described at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/
hcp/disposition-in-home-patients.html and PAHAN 504

COVID-19 Patients Who Are Healthcare
Personnel
* Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who are healthcare
personnel (HCP), including staff in long term care or other
residential facilities, should contact their supervisor and
occupational health to report their diagnosis, and isolate at
home.
* HCP who are diagnosed with COVID-19 should follow
the return to work for healthcare personnel with confirmed

or suspected COVID-19 as described in PAHAN 501
* HCP should work with occupational health to determine
an appropriate return to work strategy based on the current
capacity and facility surge situation.

Instructions for Close Contacts of People
Diagnosed with COVID-19
* A close contact is described above.
Educate close contacts that they will be called by public health
or contact tracing staff who will interview the contact and
provide additional recommendations. Cooperation with public
health staff is essential to prevent ongoing transmission.
* Close contacts of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 should
be instructed to self-quarantine for 14 days from the date of
their last contact with the patient. For household contacts, this
will be 14 days from the date the person with COVID-19 is
released from isolation.
* If a close contact develops symptoms during those 14 days,
they could be tested for COVID-19, or they may be advised to
self-isolate at home.
* Close contacts who are HCP should be instructed to notify
occupational health immediately for additional instruction.
Close contacts who are HCP with community or household
exposures should be excluded from work and self-quarantine
for 14 days following the last date of exposure, unless all the
following criteria are met in the healthcare facility: Exclusion
of the exposed HCP would mean there would no longer be
enough staff to provide safe patient care. Other contingency
capacity standards have been exhausted (see CDC strategies).
The facility has met criteria for crisis capacity standards for
staffing as defined in their emergency preparedness plan.
* HCP with healthcare related exposures should follow the
guidance outlined in PAHAN 510.
* Close contacts who are critical infrastructure workers should
follow the guidance outlined in PAHAN 498.

Categories of Health Alert messages:
Health Alert: conveys the highest level of importance; warrants
immediate action or attention.
Health Advisory: provides important information for a specific
incident or situation; may not require immediate action.
Health Update: provides updated information regarding an
incident or situation; unlikely to require immediate action.
This information is current as of July 4, 2020 but may be modified
in the future. We will continue to post updated information
regarding the most common questions about this subject.

FALL 2020 | York County Medicine

21
http://www.YORKCOMEDSOC.ORG https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/disposition-in-home-patients.html
York County Medicine Fall 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of York County Medicine Fall 2020
