State to follow new CDC quarantine guidelines

The state will start following new COVID-19 quarantine guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  State Epidemiologist Dr. Josh Clayton said Wednesday that it will reduce the amount of time that many people will be required to quarantine after being exposed to the virus.

Close contacts of positive COVID-19 people have been asked to quarantine for fourteen days since their last contact with the positive person, but Clayton said the CDC has reduced that number for people who have not had any symptoms.

Clayton said that the test would need to be done anytime after day five of quarantine and the results would need to be negative in order to be released from quarantine. He said that another option could have someone quarantine for ten days.

State Department of Health Secretary Kim Malsam-Rysdon said that the state is also expanding people’s access to at-home saliva based testing for close contacts.  She said previously this type of testing was only available for people who are close contacts of a positive case within their household, but that has now changed.

Malsam-Rysdon said that more than 500 household close contacts in the state have already used the tests.