W & I decided morale (or their idea of it) is more important than life itself. Acting on that determination, Accounts Management forced employees to have face to face meetings, even intimidating employees into choosing their “in office day” based on their team meeting day. Last week, teams were meeting in conference rooms less than 6 feet apart from each other and for longer than 15 minutes. Someone, in that team, tested positive for covid, that night. (A blind squirrel could’ve seen that coming.)
Here is the latest guidance from the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force:
Q: What is considered to be a close contact?
A: A close contact is defined as being within 6 feet of someone who has probable or confirmed COVID-19 for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period.
Q: What steps should an agency take if an individual who is up to date with COVID-19 vaccines, or had confirmed COVID-19 within the last 90 days, has a known close contact with someone with COVID-19?
A: If an asymptomatic individual has a known close contact with someone with COVID-19, they do not need to quarantine if they are up to date with COVID-19 vaccines or if they had confirmed COVID-19 within the last 90 days (i.e., they tested positive using a viral test).
Pursuant to Executive Order 13991 and consistent with CDC guidance, agencies must instruct these individuals to watch for symptoms for 10 full days after they last had close contact with someone with COVID-19 (the date of last close contact is considered day 0 and day 1 is the first full day after they last had close contact with someone with COVID-19). Agencies also must instruct these individuals to take precautions when working onsite at an agency workplace or interacting with members of the public in person as part of their official responsibilities for 10 full days from the date they last had close contact with someone with COVID-19, including wearing a well-fitting mask when around others (see FAQs on mask-wearing), avoiding eating and drinking around others, avoiding environments such as dining facilities and gyms where they may be unmasked around others, avoiding people who are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe disease, and avoiding nursing homes and other high-risk settings. If an individual is unable to wear a mask, then they must not enter a Federal facility or interact with members of the public in person as part of their official responsibilities for 10 days.
As part of agency testing protocols, and pursuant to Executive Order 13991 and consistent with CDC guidance, agencies must require that such individuals working onsite at an agency workplace or interacting with members of the public in person as part of their official responsibilities be tested at least 5 full days after they last had close contact with someone with COVID-19 (unless they tested positive for COVID-19 with a viral test within the previous 90 days and subsequently recovered and remain without COVID-19 symptoms, in which case they do not need to get tested after close contact). If they test positive or if they at any time develop COVID-19 symptoms, they must follow agency protocols on isolation. If the individual is not working onsite at an agency workplace or interacting with members of the public in person as part of their official responsibilities within 10 days of the close contact, then the agency should not require them to be tested.
CDC’s setting-specific guidance provides additional recommendations for settings such as congregate settings and healthcare settings; where there is a conflict with more general guidance, agencies must follow the setting-specific guidance should be followed. CDC generally recommends a 10-day quarantine for certain congregate settings (including correctional or detention facilities) that have a high risk of secondary transmission. Decisions to shorten quarantine in these settings should be made in consultation with State, local, Tribal, or territorial health departments and should take into consideration the context and characteristics of the facility.
UPDATED Q: What steps should an agency take if an individual who is not up to date with COVID-19 vaccines has a known close contact with someone with COVID-19?
A: If an individual who is not up to date with COVID-19 vaccines, and has not had confirmed COVID-19 within the last 90 days, has a known close contact with someone with COVID-19, they must follow agency quarantine protocols and not enter a Federal facility or interact with members of the public in person as part of their official responsibilities for at least 5 full days after their last close contact with someone who has COVID-19 (the date of exposure is considered day 0, and day 1 is the first full day after they last had close contact with someone with COVID-19). If they are unable to wear a mask when around others, such as pursuant to a medical condition or disability for which they have received a reasonable accommodation from their agency, they must not enter a Federal facility or interact with members of the public in person as part of their official responsibilities for 10 full days.
During quarantine, agencies must, pursuant to Executive Order 13991 and consistent with CDC guidance, instruct an individual to watch for COVID-19 symptoms, and if they develop symptoms, to follow agency protocols for isolation. The agency also must instruct individuals who have quarantined to continue to take precautions when working onsite at an agency workplace or interacting with members of the public in person as part of their official responsibilities for 10 full days from the date they last had close contact with someone with COVID-19, including wearing a well-fitting mask when around others (see FAQs on mask-wearing), avoiding eating and drinking around others, avoiding environments such as dining facilities and gyms where they may be unmasked around others, avoiding people who are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe disease, and avoiding nursing homes and other high-risk settings.
As part of agency testing protocols and pursuant to Executive Order 13991 and consistent with CDC, agencies must require that these individuals be tested at least 5 full days after they last had close contact with someone with COVID-19. If they test negative, they can return to their workplace and interact with members of the public in person as part of their official responsibilities. If they test positive, they should follow CDC recommendations on isolation.
If the individual is unable to get a test 5 days after they last had close contact with someone with COVID-19, an agency may determine it will allow them to return to their workplace after day 5 if they have been without COVID-19 symptoms throughout the 5-day period. If the individual is not working onsite at an agency workplace or interacting with members of the public in person as part of their official responsibilities within 10 days of the close contact, then the agency should not require them to be tested.
CDC’s setting-specific guidance provides additional recommendations for settings such as congregate settings and healthcare settings; where there is a conflict with more general guidance, agencies must follow the setting-specific guidance, pursuant to Executive Order 13991. CDC generally recommends a 10-day quarantine for certain congregate settings (including correctional or detention facilities) that have a high risk of secondary transmission. Decisions to shorten quarantine in these settings should be made in consultation with State, local, Tribal, or territorial health departments and should take into consideration the context and characteristics of the facility.
In addition, NTEU73 recommends that employees ensure that managers file an incident report and, if they test positive within 21 days, file a Federal Employee Compensation Act (FECA) claim for the workplace disease Information on how to file a FECA claim is found here: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/owcp/FECA/fec-faq
At this time, the CDC estimates that approximately 5-10% of the folks who get covid also experience “Long Covid.” Long Covid can be disabling. Please make sure you file the incident report and the claim. If you are one of the folks who gets long covid, your medical treatment and absences are paid for by the employer, who forced you to take this unnecessary risk for the sake of being best pals with your coworkers (germ bags) in your assigned team.
I fully understand that it is necessary to come in the office to pick up and drop off work, or to be there twice a pay period to maintain locality pay. It is in no way necessary to sit in an enclosed space with 15 near strangers for half an hour to decide when food day should be. (It shouldn’t happen, at all, right now.) Or to verbally share the IRM updates that are already sent in alerts daily.
I like my coworkers, too. I am positive they are all fastidiously clean in the preparation of communal food. It’s still risky to partake after some random person hangs over the food table to sniff the sumptuous breakfast casserole, or sticks their bare hand, fingers clean from a good lickin’, in the potato chip bag. We all know it happens and, as manners require, pretend we don’t.
Most folks’ morale is raised by being allowed to do their job, get their pay and take care of their family, without risking their or their families’ health and wellbeing to do it.
Debbie Mullikin