Updated COVID Measures - November 17
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) has updated their COVID guidelines for fertility clinics and patients, following a November 10 update from the Center of Disease Control (CDC). We highlight some of the most important points below, and share a link to the complete list.
“Isolation and quarantine: INSTRUCTION FOR PATIENTS:
- For most persons with COVID-19 illness, the CDC recommends that isolation and quarantine precautions can generally be discontinued 10 days after symptom onset and resolution of fever for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications, and with improvement of other symptoms. Exceptions to this are those with severe illness, who may be contagious for longer. Consider consultation with infection control experts for patients with severe illness.
- For persons who never develop symptoms, isolation and other precautions can be discontinued 10 days after the date of their first positive RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 RNA.
Definition of “close contact” for Healthcare personnel:
- On October 21st, the CDC updated its guidance on what constitutes “close contact” with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 for the purpose of isolation. “Close contact” has been revised to be within six feet for a total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period. The timeframe for having contact with an individual includes the period 48 hours before the individual became symptomatic. A distinction has been made regarding close contact of healthcare personnel to COVID-19 positive individuals in the workplace. In the workplace, if appropriate PPE is worn, close proximity to an infected individual for an extended amount of time is not considered a relevant exposure.
- Of note, cloth masks are not considered PPE. It is important that the current definition does not recommend differential determination of close contact for healthcare personnel using fabric face coverings. Fabric masks are not relevant for the determination of “close contact”.
*PPE stands for Personal Protective Equipment
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