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CDC Guidance Changes Definition of “Close Contact”–Leading to Practical Difficulties, New Uncertainty, and More Quarantined Employees

Client memorandum | October 28, 2020

On October 21, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC) issued new guidance that expands the definition of “close contact” for purposes of determining whether a person has been exposed to COVID-19 (and thus should stay home from work in quarantine for 14 days). The new definition not only will result in many more employees potentially being sent home to quarantine, but creates significant practical difficulties and uncertainty as to how a business can proceed to try in good faith to trace persons who have been in “close contact” with infected persons at the workplace.

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