The CDC has updated its definition of close contact, which will affect contact tracing practices, employee notifications, and other COVID-19 concerns for employers.
Under the updated definition, close contact is someone who was within six feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period starting from two days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, two days prior to positive test) until the time the patient is isolated. Individual, short-term exposures are now added together over a 24-hour period (for example, three 5-minute exposures would result in a total of 15 minutes of exposure). Previously, the definition did not reference cumulative exposure, so close contact was presumed to require 15 minutes of consecutive exposure.
Action for Employers
Employers should update their policies and procedures to account for this change, including but not limited to contact tracing forms and social distancing or infectious disease policies and procedures.