As of 3/1/24 COVID-19 guidance is now grouped with other respiratory illnesses (flu, RSV.)
The guidance below from the CDC gives practical recommendations and information to help people lower risk from a range of common respiratory viral illnesses, including COVID-19, flu, and RSV.
For frequently asked questions, follow this link.
For more in depth about the update, follow this link.
What new evidence has led to this updated Respiratory Virus Guidance?
✅ We have more and better tools and protection to fight serious respiratory illness
✅ Effective vaccines against all three major viruses are now widely available:
✅ COVID-19 vaccines cut the risk of severe disease in half, and over 95% of hospitalized adults were not up to date with their COVID-vaccine in fall 2023.
✅ Flu vaccines similarly cut the risk of severe disease by close to half.
✅ For the first time in fall 2023, we had an immunization against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) for older adults, pregnant people, and young children.
➡ Prior Guidance: Previous COVID-19 guidelines suggested a 5-day isolation period + post-isolation precautions. These were created during the public health emergency with lower population immunity, fewer tools, and higher illness rates.
➡ Updated Guidance: New guidance recommends staying at home until fever-free for at least 24 hours and symptoms are improving and then resuming normal activities using precautions for 5 days.
New York State continues to maintain a COVID-19 sick leave law, which requires some employers to provide at least 5 or 14 calendar days (depending on employer size) of (in most cases paid) sick leave related to COVID-19, separate and apart from any other sick time or other paid time off the employer may already provide. Paid Leave for COVID-19 | Paid Family Leave (ny.gov)
If you need an isolation order or release of isolation, fill out the appropriate form below.
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- You will automatically receive an email Isolation Notification. This is what you can forward on to your employer as documentation of your need to isolate & not go to work.
- You can use the I need an Isolation Release tab to get an emailed Isolation Release.
- If you performed an at-home self-test, report your positive result to the Essex County Health Department. Once you submit your at-home self-test form you will automatically receive an Isolation Order email & don’t need to complete the form below.
- If the test was done in any way other than an at-home self-test, you do not need to report it to the Essex County Health Department. All tests other than at-home self-tests are reported by the testing provider up through the NYSDOH system and Essex County Health Department receives these results automatically.
Updated Guidance: New guidance recommends staying at home until fever-free for at least 24 hours and symptoms are improving and then resuming normal activities using precautions for 5 days.
- If you need an Isolation Release, complete an Isolation Release form (next tab) when you have met the criteria for release from isolation.
If you need a Isolation Release notification, you can complete and submit the form below.
- You will automatically receive an email Isolation Release. This is what you can forward on to your employer as documentation of your release & ability to return to work.