Cal/OSHA Updates

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has revised the definitions for “Close Contact” and “Infectious Period,” which changes the previous requirements from the Third Revised COVID Emergency Temporary Standard (Third Revised ETS). The CDPH now defines close contact, as “someone sharing the same indoor airspace for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour during an infected person’s infectious period”.

The definition of infectious period for symptomatic infected persons is now defined as 2 days before the infected person had any symptoms through Day 10 after symptoms first appeared (or through Days 5-10 if testing negative on Day 5 or later), and 24 hours have passed with no fever, without the use of fever-reducing medications, and symptoms have improved. The other change is the infectious period for asymptomatic infected persons is now 2 days before the positive specimen collection date through Day 10 after positive specimen collection date (or through Days 5-10 if testing negative on Day 5 or later) after specimen collection date for their first positive COVID-19 test.

A significant language difference between the recent June 8th Order and the Third Revised ETS is that “the same indoor airspace” is now being considered close contact, as opposed to the “within six feet” standard from the Third Revised ETS. In addition, the revised definition effectively cuts off the infectious period of a COVID-19 case that tests negative on or after day 5.   

It is crucial that California employers stay up to date with these developments to make changes to their workplace safety plans and to understand their COVID-19 case reporting obligations and contact tracing procedures.