The CDC issued a change to their definition of what constitutes a “close contact” of a person testing positive for coronavirus, meaning that more people exposed to covid-positive individuals will need to quarantine and get tested. The previous guidelines stated that “close contact” meant that someone spent fifteen minutes around that person, but they’re now stating that it’s a total of fifteen minutes over the course of 24 hours. They’re basing this on a case study out of a prison in Vermont, where six new prisoners and a prison guard all caught the virus. The guard was allegedly wearing a mask at all times but caught it too. I’m relying on CNBC’s reporting here because I read several articles about this and think they do the best job of reporting it.

The Centers for Disease Control updated its definition of what it means to be in “close contact” with someone infected with Covid-19 on Wednesday, after publishing a report on Covid-19 cases that took place at a Vermont correctional facility.

Previously, the agency said that “close contact” meant being within six feet of an infected person for 15 consecutive minutes. Now, it’s considered “close contact” if you spend a total of 15 minutes within six feet of an infected person over the course of a 24-hour period, starting two days before the onset of illness. For example, if you had three five-minute exposures to the person over the course of a day, that would count as close contact.

A study published on Wednesday outlines how a mask-wearing corrections officer in Vermont contracted Covid-19 after having several brief interactions with Covid-positive individuals over the course of an eight-hour shift.

After reviewing surveillance footage, public health officials noted that a 20-year-old corrections officer had 22 interactions (lasting about a minute each) within six feet of six incarcerated or detained individuals who were asymptomatic and awaiting Covid-19 test results. In total, the study authors estimate the officer had 17 minutes of exposure to infected people over the course of the day.

A day later, the six individuals tested positive for Covid-19. But since the corrections officer wasn’t technically deemed a “close contact,” he continued to go to work. Seven days after the brief exposures, he developed symptoms of Covid-19.

It’s worth noting that the officer was wearing a microfiber cloth mask, gown, goggles for eye protection and in most interactions, gloves. The incarcerated or detained people also wore microfiber cloth masks most of the time, but the CDC says “during several encounters in a cell doorway or in the recreation room, [they] did not wear masks.”

[From CNBC]

First of all, the fact that we’re not hearing more about how coronavirus is spreading so rapidly in the incarcerated population (and among unlawfully detained immigrants) is unconscionable. There are surely so many cases where cases are going unreported. Why are prisons and jails not enforcing mask-wearing? Oh I know, because they don’t care if prisoners get sick or die. They will spend millions of dollars outfitting prisons with military tactical gear but balk at basic preventative measures during a pandemic. The for-profit prison system needs to be abolished.

As for how this affects everyday people, we need to wear masks at all times, remain vigilant, and not make exceptions for friends. (The CNBC article has more on that if you’re interested.) My son and I have the KN95 masks (from Amazon and they’re available at stores near me now) and are only wearing those, not the cloth masks, when we go out. This also really brings it home that people working in the service industry need to consistently and correctly wear masks. Whenever I go shopping I see multiple shoppers in my small town (which has had 500 cases so far) without masks. I also see workers talking to each other with their masks pulled down. There are always people with their masks pulled down beneath their nose. It’s frankly scary and makes me anxious whenever I go out. Plus, I know people who are still hanging out in groups over five and who are not in a social bubble. I wish them well and hope they’re ok but I doubt I’ll ever hang out with them again, even when this is over. It’s just too much of ideological difference for me to ignore.

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