CDC Changes Coronavirus Guidance on Close Contact, Emphasizes Wearing Masks
A small outbreak of Covid-19 in a Vermont prison has prompted a change in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for what qualifies as close contact with an infected person — and illustrates the importance of wearing a mask.
The findings could affect how people gather as the weather grows cooler.
The updated guidance changes the definition of a “close contact” of a Covid-19 case to a person who has been within 6 feet of an infected person for a total of at least 15 minutes in a day. That includes multiple, but brief, encounters, one or two minutes at a time.
Previously, a close contact was defined as spending 15 consecutive minutes with a Covid-19 patient. Those changes were expected to be updated Wednesday on the CDC’s website.
