COVID-19 Quarantine Period Reduced

Quarantine guidelines have changed as new information has become available. Stay on top of the developments to reduce or mitigate your exposure to claims arising from the services you are rendering during this pandemic.

Posted in Risk Management on Monday, December 21, 2020

One constant throughout this tumultuous pandemic is that all our insureds should be following the guidelines set forth by the CDC, state and local officials and your licensing board — even though they have often changed. By diligently following those orders and documenting that you are doing so, it reduces your chances of having successful COVID-19-related allegations brought against you. 

Updates to CDC Guidelines as of December 3

On December 3, the CDC reduced the quarantine period. In summary, their changes are as follows:

• Two shorter quarantine periods for non-positive cases, meaning those who have been exposed to the virus via contact with someone who is positive

  • A 10-day quarantine period

    • Quarantine can end after 10 days without testing if no symptoms have been present during the quarantine period.

    • The CDC estimates that the potential transmission risk at that time is only about 1% - 10%.

  • A 7-day quarantine period
    • Quarantine can end after 7 days if a negative test and no symptoms have been present during the quarantine period.
    • The CDC estimates that the potential transmission risk at that time is about 5% - 12%.
• Additional requirements during the new quarantine periods:
  • Continued daily monitoring for what would have been the original 14-day period
  • If any symptoms do develop, self-isolate and contact the public health department and/or your healthcare provider to report the symptoms.

This is good news, especially for healthcare providers experiencing stress due to reduced staffing because of the original quarantining requirements, as well as financial and emotional considerations.

Document Everything

Again, as a reminder: document, document and document that you are following all the guidelines as they are provided.  Keep your previous documents on hand and date them according as to when they were activated and when they were/are updated.