The Puerto Rico Department of Health (PR DOH) has issued new Guidelines for Case Investigation and Contact Tracing for COVID-19 (Guidelines). These provide updates to previously issued quarantine and isolation guidelines. With COVID-19 positivity rates nearing 30% on the Island, employers are struggling to maintain their operations while complying with PR DOH guidelines on quarantine and isolation. The following is a summary of the latest requirements.
Definitions
We begin by recapping certain important definitions.
Close contact includes any person exposed to a confirmed or probable case of COVID-19, at a distance of less than 6 feet for at least 15 cumulative minutes in a 24-hour period.
Fully vaccinated is defined as follows, pursuant to applicable age groups:
With regards to the terms isolation and quarantine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides an easy distinction between both: quarantine keeps someone who might have been exposed to the virus away from others; isolation keeps someone who is infected with the virus away from others, even in their home. Thus, a person will need to quarantine when they suspect exposure to a transmittable disease, but once they confirm infection, isolation is required.
Isolation
According to the Guidelines, the following are the four potential scenarios for COVID-19 isolation in Puerto Rico:
Quarantine
The Guidelines provide the following quarantine guidelines in Puerto Rico2:
These guidelines establish the minimum compliance; employers are free to adapt more restrictive or conservative measures in the workplace. It is important to remember that employers continue to have an obligation to notify the PR DOH immediately if a case of COVID-19 is identified in the workplace to initiate the investigation of cases and contact tracing. Employers must notify the PR DOH via email at: covidpatronos@salud.pr.gov using the Agency’s form.
Footnotes
