CDC Issues Revised Guidance on Returning to Work After Isolation

In July, the CDC updated the criteria relating to when an employee may return to work. They issued their new criteria in their Guidance entitled Discontinuation of Isolation for Persons with COVID-19 Not in Healthcare Settings which applies to persons who have mild to moderate illness and are recovering at home.

In May, SMACNA’s general counsel, Felhaber Larson, issued The Employer’s Guide to Returning to Work During COVID-19 (Part 2), citing two methods to determine when a person who contracted COVID-19 (or who has COVID-19 symptoms) may discontinue home isolation and return to work: (1) the symptoms-based strategy, and (2) the test-based strategy.

The CDC’s revised guidance updated the requirements for the symptoms-based strategy, while also stating that it no longer recommends using the test-based strategy.

The New Standards

Now, a person with COVID-19 symptoms may discontinue home isolation and return to work after meeting the following:

1. At least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared, AND

2. At least 24 hours have passed since the person’s last fever without the use of fever reducing medications, AND

3. The person’s symptoms have improved.

Read more about the new CDC guidance.