For COVID-19, a close contact is defined as any individual who was within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes starting from 48 hours before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, 10 days prior to positive specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated.
The public health evaluation of close contacts to clients with laboratory-confirmed or probable COVID-19 may vary depending on the exposure setting.
Contacts in special populations and/or congregate settings require additional considerations and may need handoff to a senior health department investigator or special team.
Additional guidance on managing these contacts can be found in Section VI of this guidance. In jurisdictions with testing capacity,