Board Converting News, April 6, 2020

CDC Protocols (CONT’D FROM PAGE 18)

6. If an employee is diagnosed with COVID-19, should the impacted facility expect a CDC investigation? If so, what should the facility expect in order to be prepared, and what type of interruption should be anticipated? A: While CDC may deploy staff to investigate clusters of confirmed COVID-19, it does not routinely investigate ev- ery impacted workplace. Employers should cooperate with state and local health officials. 7. Is the CDC developing a nationwide rapid home test for COVID-19 that could be deployed in the workplace? A: CDC’s focus has been on increasing state and local laboratory capacity. As of March 18, 91 public health lab- oratories are now running the CDC assay, including 50 states, plus District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. As of March 18, the CDC has tested over 4,754 samples that equate to more than 1,610 patients. Public health labs have tested more than 40,360 samples. If you are a close contact of someone with COVID-19, or you are a resident in a community where there is on- going spread of COVID-19 and you develop symptoms of COVID-19, call your healthcare provider and tell them about your symptoms and your exposure. They will decide whether you need to be tested, but keep in mind that there is no treatment for COVID-19 and people who are mildly ill may be able to isolate and care for themselves at home. For answers to additional questions for manufacturing facilities, visit the CDC website at cdc.gov .

are needed to disinfect the equipment, the raw materi- als and potentially the finished products? A: If the objects in question are not accessible to employ- ees, they may have little potential for contamination and may not present an exposure hazard of concern. If equip- ment, inputs and outputs are thought to be contaminat- ed and can be cleaned and disinfected (or laundered, for porous materials), follow the CDC cleaning and disinfec- tion recommendations, which indicate that dirty surfaces should be cleaned with soap and water prior to disinfec- tion. 5. What are the recommended strategies and practices for a workplace quarantine if employees are becoming ill? A: Employees who have symptoms including fever, cough, or shortness of breath should notify their supervisor and stay home. Employees who appear to have symptoms in- cluding fever, cough, or shortness of breath upon arrival to work or become sick during the day should be imme- diately separated from other employees, customers, and visitors, given a face mask if possible, and sent home. Sick employees should follow CDC-recommended steps. Em- ployees should not return to work until the criteria to end home isolation are met, in consultation with healthcare providers and state and local health departments.