COVID-19 Week 12 - Criteria of “Close contacts”

Who is a close contact?

Close contacts are those that are likely to be at a higher risk of being infected. A ‘close contact’ is defined as any person with the following exposure to a confirmed or probable case during the case’s infectious period, without appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). The criteria includes:

  • having direct contact with the body fluids or the laboratory specimens of a case
  • being present in the same room in a health care setting when an aerosol-generating procedure is undertaken on a case
  • living in the same household or household-like setting (e.g. a shared section of in a hostel) with a case
  • having face-to-face contact in any setting within two metres of a case for 15 minutes or more
  • having been in a closed environment (e.g. a classroom, hospital waiting room, or conveyance other than aircraft) within 2 metres of a case for 15 minutes or more; or in a higher-risk closed environment for 15 minutes or more as determined by the local Medical Officer of Health*
  • having been seated on an aircraft within 2 metres of a case (for economy class this would mean 2 seats in any direction including seats across the aisle, other classes would require further assessment)
  • aircraft crew exposed to a case (a risk assessment conducted by the airline is required to identify which crew should be managed as close contacts).

*The local Medical Officer of Health will determine whether an environment is higher-risk. Considerations include the nature of the gathering, the level of contact between individuals and the ability to observe physical distancing/hygiene measures.

We have translated this information into the following languages: Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai and Hindi.

 

 

 

 

 

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