ICPHD amended health order changes isolation time and criteria for returning to work

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif (KYMA, KECY), The Imperial County Public Health Department issued an amended health order that changes isolation orders for those who have tested positive from the coronavirus.

The ICPH says the amended order is in line with what the CDC is recommending.

New data with the CDC suggests that symptoms and the time frame from when you first tested is the best gauge to determine if someone is still contagious and needs to be isolated.

“We now know that people, in particular, those that are seriously ill, even though they recover from the virus and they no longer shed it, the viral RNA which is what the PCR test detects can still be there for months and it leads to confusion. So now that they have data that shows that they are no longer contagious they have made this new recommendation," said Dr. Stephan Munday, ICPHD health officer.

The amended order says that a person who has tested positive does not have to isolate if at least ten days have passed since they tested positive and at least 24 hours have passed since they last had a fever without any fever-reducing medications.

“They are no longer considered to be contagious, and that means they can go to work," said Munday.

The amended order also states that employees no longer have to provide a negative test result to go back to work after testing positive.

Munday says that each employer can determine their own requirements needed to return to work.

“We don't determine what individual private workplaces require for someone to return to work," said Munday.

The health order also says that follow up testing to see if you test negative is no longer needed.

The CDC recommends that critically ill people isolate for 20 days since their symptoms first started and at least 24 hours have passed since they last had a fever without any fever-reducing medications.