What To Do If An Employee Has COVID There continue to be several public health recommendations for workplaces to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
If you work in a non-healthcare setting and you suspect COVID-19 is spreading in your workplace, please follow these steps: 1. Review and follow guidance from the Washington State Department of Health to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 at your workplace: https://bit.ly/2W45zV7. Recommend to any employee who develops COVID-19 symptoms, or who comes in close contact with someone who tests positive, to get tested. 2. To determine who all may have been exposed to COVID-19 within your workplace, perform “contact tracing” (described by the CDC here). To learn more about how to do contact tracing, review and follow this employers' guide: https://bit.ly/3CSL5zk.
3. Fill out this document to identify employees who have tested positive for COVID-19 and their possible close contacts. Upload the document via Cowlitz County Health & Human Services’ secure webform: https://bit.ly/3iT1Wdd. Continue updating and uploading the document as new individuals are identified.
4. Review and share the following resources with your employees: • What To Do If You Have Confirmed Or Suspected COVID-19
• What To Do If You Were Exposed To Someone With COVID-19
Employers should not require sick employees to provide a COVID-19 test result or a doctor's note to validate their illness, qualify for sick leave, or to return to work. Cowlitz County Health does not provide work clearance letters for employees.
To learn when employees can return to work view the Washington State Department of Health's Symptom Decision Tree for the general public (not including health care settings or schools): https://bit.ly/3HrMuPo. |