ERIE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH CHANGES QUARANTINE GUIDANCE FOLLOWING UPDATE FROM NEW YORK STATE

Quarantine time period shifts from 14 days to 10 days

ERIE COUNTY, NY – Following an update by the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) to COVID quarantine requirements on December 26, the Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH) has changed the time period for quarantine from 14 days to 10 days past last exposure.

Starting today, December 28, individuals placed under quarantine by ECDOH can end quarantine after ten days if no symptoms have been reported during the quarantine period.

ECDOH continues to strongly recommend a diagnostic COVID test 5 to 7 days following the date of last exposure for anyone who is close or household contact of a confirmed COVID-19 case.

“While in quarantine and through day 14 past your last date of exposure, anyone who develops COVID-like symptoms at any point should seek a diagnostic test immediately,” explained Dr. Burstein. “Those individuals should assume that they are infectious, and act accordingly to isolate from others in a household and stay home from all activities.”

Other requirements for individuals under quarantine include:

• Individuals must continue daily symptom monitoring through Day 14
• Individuals must be counseled to continue strict adherence to all recommended non-pharmaceutical interventions, including hand hygiene and the use of face coverings, through Day 14
• Individuals must be advised that if any symptoms develop, they should immediately self-isolate and contact the local public health authority or their healthcare provider to report this change in clinical status and determine if they should seek testing.

“This will surely cause questions among people that our contact tracers are notifying,” said Commissioner of Health Dr. Gale Burstein. “The 14-day quarantine period has been in place since the beginning of this pandemic, and our contact tracers and call center are prepared to answer questions on this change.”

Quarantine documents and other information on the ECDOH website will be updated this week.

For more information:

• ECDOH, COVID-19, Isolation and Quarantine: http://www.erie.gov/covid19/iq
• CDC, Options to Shorten Quarantine: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/scientific-brief-options-to-reduce-quarantine.html
• CDC, Quarantine: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/quarantine.html
• CDC, Isolation: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/isolation.html