NYSDOH shortens COVID-19 isolation, quarantine periods

What a difference two years make. Between December 23, 2021, and January 10, 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidance recommending shorter periods of isolation and quarantine in response to challenges caused by the COVID-19 omicron variant. In response, on December 24, January 4, and January 14, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) issued its own guidance dramatically reducing the amount of time an infected person must isolate or an exposed person must quarantine. The new state guidelines relax testing requirements and contain specif-ic masking rules. Read on to understand what the new guidance means for your business.

Background

The NYSDOH’s December 24 interim guidance allowed fully vaccinated healthcare and essential workers to return to work after only five days of isolation for infections provided they either were asymptomatic or had mild or resolving symptoms. The directive omitted the need for a negative test to return to work.

The NYSDOH put out two separate guidance documents on January 4. The guidance for the general popu-lation reaffirmed the shortened isolation period and introduced shortened (or no) quarantine periods, depend-ing on an individual’s vaccination status. It modified the December 24 guidance by making the January 4 guide-lines applicable to “essential workers.” Healthcare workers remain subject to the December 24 directive. The NYSDOH January 4 guidance to healthcare settings addressed the management of exposures to healthcare pro-viders and the mitigation of staffing shortages.