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For general questions on isolation, quarantine, and testing,
click here to read our COVID-19 FAQ’s.
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Click here to read our updated operational and financial policies as we strive to deliver safe, high-quality care to our patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Update from the NH Division of Public Health Services (DPHS):
Quarantine Guidance Update: Key Points and Recommendations
December 3, 2020
- NH DPHS is decreasing the required quarantine period for people potentially exposed to COVID-19 from 14 to 10 days, which is consistent with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) new quarantine guidance:
- A person who is close contact to another person infectious with COVID-19 must stay home and away from public locations for 10 days starting from the last day of exposure to the infectious person.
- A person who has traveled outside of New England must stay home and away from public locations for 10 days starting from the last day of travel outside of New England (see NH DPHS Travel Guidance for exceptions to travel-related quarantine).
- Any person who ends quarantine after 10 days must still monitor themselves daily for symptoms of COVID-19 and strictly adhere to all recommended non-pharmaceutical interventions (social distancing, avoiding social gatherings, face mask use, hand hygiene, etc.) for a full 14 days after last potential exposure or high-risk travel. Any person who develops symptoms should immediately isolate and seek testing.
- NH DPHS does not recommend routinely adopting the “test out” option in the new CDC guidance. This “test out” option suggests a person could end quarantine after 7 days if the person tests negative for active SARS-CoV-2 infection within the 48 hours before ending quarantine. Currently testing resources are not sufficiently available to adopt this approach widely, and risk of transmission is increased.
Update from the NH DPHS:
Tests, Travel, Contact Tracing: Key Points and Recommendations
November 13, 2020
Masks
- CDC has released a Scientific Brief about the effectiveness of community use of face masks to control spread of COVID-19.
- NH DPHS continues to recommend everybody (except for people with contraindications per CDC guidance) wear face masks when in any public location.
Travel and Quarantine Guidance
- DPHS continues to recommend against any non-essential personal or business travel, and people should avoid gathering with others who are not part of a person’s immediate household, even during the holidays.
- People traveling outside the six New England States (NH, ME, VT, MA, CT, RI) still need to self-quarantine for 10 days from their last day of travel outside New England (unchanged).
- Travelers now have the option to shorten their travel-related quarantine if all the following apply: the person gets a molecular-based test (an antigen is not acceptable) on day 7 (or later) of their quarantine, the person tests negative, and they remain asymptomatic. This 7-day “test out” of travel quarantine option applies ONLY to travel-related quarantine and NOT quarantine due to other types of exposure.
Contact Tracing
- “Close contact” is defined as a person being within 6 feet of someone with COVID-19 for a cumulative time of 10 minutes or longer during the person’s infectious period; this exposure can occur over multiple separate contacts or even days.
- Close contacts of people diagnosed with COVID-19:
- Must quarantine (stay home) for at least 10 days from the last day of their exposure to the person infectious with COVID-19.
- Get tested for COVID-19 (ideally 5-7 days after exposure) even if they do not have symptoms of COVID-19. Testing for COVID-19 during quarantine helps identify infection early when someone may be infected but still asymptomatic and can help stop further spread of the virus, but a negative test does NOT allow a person to end quarantine early.
For the most up-to-date information on COVID-19, please visit CDC or the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.
CDC – Handwashing
CDC – Cloth Face Coverings
CDC – What to Do If You Are Sick
CDC – When You Can Be Around Others
CDC – Stress and Coping
CDC – Guidance for Schools and Childcare Programs
CDC – View Videos on the Coronavirus Disease 2019
NH DPHS – Coronavirus Disease 2019 Self-Quarantine Guide
NH DPHS – Coronavirus Disease 2019 Self-Isolation Guide
NH DPHS – Using Cloth Face Coverings to Help Slow the Spread of COVID-19
Office of the Governor – Safe at Home 2.0 Reopening Plan
NH Department of Health and Human Services – COVID-19 Summary Dashboard
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
Critical Updates on COVID-19: Information for Families
Cloth Face Coverings for Children (via HealthyChildren.org)
Last updated 12/4/20
