CDC updates definition of ‘close contact’ amid COVID-19 pandemic

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is updating its definition of “close contact” with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

This is important as you venture out to work, the grocery store or maybe the gym.

These new guidelines come as the Mecklenburg County Health Department confirmed 68 COVID cases from a gathering at the United House of Prayer in north Charlotte. They are trying to reach nearly 100 people who are considered close contacts.

The previous guideline said interactions must last longer than 15 consecutive minutes within 24 hours.

It now means a total of 15 minutes spent within six feet of someone who has COVID-19. That includes multiple but brief encounters, one or two minutes at a time.

The CDC is making changes based on new data and after a Vermont corrections officer caught the virus following several short interactions with COVID-positive inmates.

“It’s based on data that one didn’t have four months ago,” CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said. “But it is data now, based on situations recorded.”

The CDC said the data is always changing and as many as half of all people who have COVID-19 do not show symptoms. The best advice remains -- wear your mask, stay at least six feet apart and wash your hands.

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Cox Media Group