CDC expands definition of COVID-19 ‘close contact’

Published October 21, 2020 9:08pm ET



New guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has expanded who should be considered a close contact of someone who tests positive for COVID-19.

Under the old guidelines, the definition of a close contact was someone who “was within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes starting from 2 days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, 2 days prior to specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated.”

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