On Oct. 21, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changed its definition of “close contact” for COVID-19 patients to include cumulative exposure to an infected person that totals 15 or more minutes in a day. Previously the contact had to be for 15 sustained minutes to be considered “close.”
According to the CDC, the definition applies without regard to whether a patient or contact was wearing respiratory personal protective equipment (PPE).
This change is particularly important for health care workers and others who have multiple short-term exposures with infected patients throughout the day.
You can read a news report about the change here.
Read the CDC’s new definition of close contact here.
Read the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report here.