Steps for Employers: Confirmed COVID-19 Cases

Here are some scenarios of employees who test positive for COVID-19, and what you as employers should do.

Confirmed COVID-19 Cases
An employee (or someone in his/her household) has a confirmed case of COVID-19:

• The employee should not report for work. If the employee is currently at work, he/she should be sent home to isolate and follow the advice of the medical provider.
• The employer does not need to notify the Department of Health, CDC, or any other government agency. The medical provider who confirmed the case is responsible for doing this.
• The employer should ask the employee to list individuals that came into close contact with him/her during the previous two weeks. This list should include employees, clients, vendors and any other business contacts
•  The employer should communicate the situation to the list of “close contacts.” Employers are advised to share that someone that the person has come in contact with recently has been confirmed to have COVID-19 but should not share the employee’s name due to privacy and confidentiality laws (unless employee has granted permission to do so; preferably documented in a text or email).
• Any employee who came in close contact with the affected employee should be sent home for a 14-day period.
• The work area and all surfaces should be cleaned as soon as possible, according to the CDC guidelines found at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/cleaning-disinfection.html
• The ill employee can stop isolation under the following conditions: (This information is based on current CDC recommendations, but always follow the guidance of the medical provider and local health department.)

If the employee will not have a test to determine if he/she is still contagious, he/she can return to work after three things have occurred:

• The employee has had no fever for at least 72 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication AND
• Other symptoms have improved AND
• At least 7 days have passed since symptoms first appeared.

If the employee will have a test to determine if he/she is still contagious, he/she can return to work after three things have occurred:

• The employee no longer has a fever without the use of fever-reducing medication AND
• Other symptoms have improved AND
• He/she received two negative tests in a row, 24 hours apart

An employee has had contact with someone who has a confirmed case of COVID-19:

• The employee should not report for work. If the employee is currently at work, he/she should be sent home for a 14-day quarantine period and reminded to follow the advice of the medical provider.
• The employee may return after the quarantine period if there are no symptoms.

An employee is ill but has not been tested or confirmed to have COVID-19

• The employee should not report for work. If the employee is currently at work, he/she should be sent home and advised to contact a medical provider.
• The employee should follow the advice of the medical provider and not return to work until all of the following have occurred:

– The employee has had no fever for at least 72 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication AND

– Other symptoms have improved AND

– At least 7 days have passed since symptoms first appeared