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COVID-19: An Update and a Refresher

By Nancy Owen, PHR, Senior HR Consultant, East Coast Risk Management

As our HR team continues to get calls regarding COVID -19, we wanted to share an update and a refresher.

COVID-19 Update

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and The New York Times, deaths related to coronavirus in the United States have reached 1 million, though daily death reports are currently low. Fewer than 400 deaths are being announced each day on average, down from more than 2,600 a day at the height of the Omicron surge. Whatever your COVID-19 community level is, according to the CDC, everyone should stay up to date with vaccination for the best protection against becoming severely ill from COVID-19, including those who have already had COVID-19. The CDC’s COVID Data Tracker shows that 46% of the U.S. population has received one booster, but half of those who are booster-eligible haven’t gotten one yet.

The virus has doubled in the past month as Omicron subvariants have spread across the country. Cases are increasing in all but seven states and territories, and in more than 10 states, the daily case average is twice as high today as it was two weeks ago. Some places, including Hawaii, Maine, and Puerto Rico, have seen recent case counts approach or surpass the levels seen during last year’s Delta surge.

Hospitalizations are also on the rise, driven primarily by increases on the East Coast. Just over 19,000 people are in American hospitals with the coronavirus each day, an increase of 20 percent from two weeks ago. The full impact of this surge is believed to be even greater than these numbers suggest. Since many infections go uncounted in official case reports, the roughly 73,000 cases currently announced each day likely capture only a portion of the true toll.

CNN just reported a warning from the White House’s new COVID response coordinator, Dr. Ashish Jha.  Jha projects the US could potentially see 100 million new COVID-19 infections in the fall and winter if Congress doesn’t approve new federal funding to fight the pandemic. “We’re looking at a range of models, both internal and external models, and what they’re predicting is that if we don’t get ahead of this thing, we’re going to have a lot of waning immunity, this virus continues to evolve, and we may see a pretty sizable wave of infections, hospitalizations and deaths this fall and winter,” Jha said. However, CNN also noted that the dire prediction came as a surprise to some public health experts and some key officials intimately involved in the administration’s work to fight COVID.

COVID-19 Refresher

What do you do when an employee says they have been exposed to COVID-19? First, we suggest you know what the CDC considers “Close Contact”.

Close contact is being within six feet of someone for a total of 15 minutes or more within a 24-hour period if that person has confirmed or suspected COVID-19.  That contact may have been up to 2 days before the person started showing symptoms or tested positive.

What do you tell an employee who is exposed to COVID-19 and is NOT up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations?

  • Stay home and quarantine for at least 5 full days.
  • Wear a well-fitting mask if you must be around others in your home.
  • Do not travel.
  • Even if you don’t develop symptoms, get tested at least 5 days after you last had close contact with someone with COVID-19.
  • Watch for symptoms until 10 days after you last had close contact with someone with COVID-19.
  • Take precautions until day 10 by wearing a well-fitting mask for 10 full days any time you are around others inside your home or in public.

What do you tell an employee who was exposed to COVID-19 and is up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations?

  • No quarantine is required unless you develop symptoms.
  • Even if you don’t develop symptoms, get tested at least 5 days after you last had close contact with someone with COVID-19.
  • Watch for symptoms until 10 days after you last had close contact with someone with COVID-19.
  • Wear a well-fitting mask for 10 full days any time you are around others inside your home or in public. Do not go to places where you are unable to wear a well-fitting mask.

What do you tell an employee who was exposed to COVID-19 and had confirmed COVID-19 within the past 90 days (tested positive using a viral test)?

  • You do not need to stay home unless you develop symptoms.
  • Watch for symptoms until 10 days after you last had close contact with someone with COVID-19.
  • Take precautions until day 10 by wearing a well-fitting mask for 10 full days any time you are around others inside your home or in public.

What do you tell an employee who tested positive for COVID-19 or has symptoms, regardless of vaccination status?

  • Stay home for 5 days and isolate from others in your home.
  • End isolation after 5 full days if you are fever-free for 24 hours (without the use of fever-reducing medication) and your symptoms are improving.
  • Wear a well-fitting mask for 10 full days any time you are around others inside your home or in public. Do not go to places where you are unable to wear a mask.

TESTING: When and How

A COVID-19 test should be taken regardless of your vaccination status if you are experiencing symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, runny nose, and loss of smell. You should also be tested if you have been within 6 feet of a person with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 for more than 15 minutes.

When required to test for COVID-19, you can seek a laboratory test through a pharmacy or doctor’s office or take one of the convenient home tests now available. At-home COVID tests can be purchased from a pharmacy, retail store, or online. Look for a label denoting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval since these tests have been evaluated by the FDA for reliability.

While at-home tests are convenient and can be reassuring, they can also give incorrect results. It’s important to know the likelihood of this and what to do with your results. Also know that frequent at-home testing will not prevent you from contracting the virus, and following precautions is still necessary.

If you are an employer with questions about any safety, workers’ compensation, or human resources issue, contact East Coast Risk Management by calling 724-864-8745 or emailing us at hrhelpline@eastcoastrm.com. We will be happy to help!

Disclaimer: The information provided on this web site is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. Use of and access to this Website do not create an attorney-client relationship between East Coast Risk Management or our employment law attorney and the user or browser.