Category: Infection Control
Question: How should isolation and quarantine recommendations be applied to outpatients and visitors in healthcare settings?
Answer: Healthcare facilities should generally refer to the isolation and quarantine recommendations for patients when making decisions about visitation, non-urgent in-person appointments, and the recommended precautions that should be implemented to accommodate visits. Outpatients and visitors who are infected with SARS-CoV-2. It is safest to defer non-urgent, in-person care and visitation until the outpatient/visitor has met the same criteria to discontinue Transmission-based Precautions that are applied to patients in a healthcare setting. If visitation or an in-person outpatient visit is allowed for a person who has not met criteria to discontinue Transmission-based Precautions, then facilities should follow healthcare infection prevention and control recommendations for people with suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Outpatients and visitors who have had close-contact with someone with SARS-CoV-2 infection and are not up to date with all recommended COVID-19 vaccine doses. It is safest to defer non-urgent, in-person care and visitation until the outpatient/visitor has met the same criteria to discontinue empiric Transmission-Based Precautions (quarantine) that are applied to patients in a healthcare setting. Although CDC does provide an option for inpatients who remain asymptomatic to discontinue their quarantine after 7 days, provided they have a negative test within 48 hours, outpatients and visitors should consider postponing their non-urgent, in-person appointment or visit until 10 days have passed since their close contact. If visitation or an in-person outpatient visit is allowed for a person who has not met these criteria, then facilities should ensure visitors use well-fitting source control and (to the extent possible) physically distance from others while in the facility and that healthcare personnel care for patients using precautions recommended for patients with suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Outpatients and visitors who have had close-contact with someone with SARS-CoV-2 infection and are up to date with all recommended COVID-19 vaccine doses or who have recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection in the prior 90 days. In general, CDC does not currently recommend quarantine following close contact with someone with SARS-CoV-2 infection if someone is up to date with all recommended COVID-19 vaccine doses or has recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection in the prior 90 days. However, it is recommended that these people avoid contact with people who are at high risk for severe outcomes for the 10 days following their exposure. As it may not be possible to avoid contact with people at high risk for severe outcomes in a healthcare setting, it is safest to defer non-urgent in-person appointments and visitation until the outpatient/visitor has met criteria to discontinue quarantine in a healthcare setting as described above. If visitation or an in-person outpatient visit is allowed for a person who has not met these criteria, then facilities should ensure these individuals wear well-fitting source control and (to the extent possible) physically distance from others while in the facility.