On January 9, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) revised its State Public Health Officer Order related to COVID-19 precautions. Pursuant to the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR)/Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency (permanent) Regulations for most workplaces, the public health order is incorporated into the Cal/OSHA workplace standard, effective immediately. CDPH notes that “Our policies and priorities for intervention are now focused on protecting those most at risk for serious illness while reducing social disruption that is disproportionate to recommendations for prevention of other endemic respiratory viral infections.​” The CDPH order may be viewed here.

The CDPH order updates definitions for the purpose of isolation and exclusion of confirmed COVID-19 cases. From the order:

All individuals should follow the recommendations in the When and Why to Wear a Mask​​​ issued by the California Department of Public Health.

For the purposes of the California Department of Public Health's recommendations for persons infected with or exposed to COVID-19 and during outbreaks, the following definitions apply:

• Close Contact
  • ​In indoor spaces 400,000 or fewer cubic feet per floor (such as homes, clinic waiting rooms, airplanes, etc.), a close contact is defined as sharing the same indoor airspace for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period (for example, three separate 5-minute exposures for a total of 15 minutes) during  a confirmed case's infectious period.
  • ​In large indoor spaces greater than 400,000 cubic feet per floor (such as open-floor-plan offices, warehouses, large retail stores, manufacturing, or food processing facilities), a close contact is defined as being within 6 feet of the confirmed case for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period during the confirmed case's infectious period.

Spaces that are separated by floor-to-ceiling ​​walls (e.g., offices, suites, rooms, waiting areas, bathrooms, or break or eating areas that are separated by floor-to-ceiling walls) must be considered distinct indoor airspaces.

• Confirmed Case
  • ​​A person who has received a positive result of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus as confirmed by a COVID-19 viral test or clinical diagnosis.
• ​​Infectious Period*. For the purpose of isolation and exclusion of confirmed cases, the “Infectious Period” is defined as: 
  • For symptomatic confirmed cases, from the day of symptom onset until 24 hours have passed with no fever, without the use of fever-reducing medications, AND symptoms are mild and improving.
  • For asymptomatic confirmed cases, there is no infectious period for the purpose of isolation or exclusion. If symptoms develop, the criteria above will apply. 

​​* The potential​ infectious period is two days before symptoms began or the positive test date (if no symptoms) through 10 days after symptoms began or testing positive.

• Outbreak. For the purpose​​s of defining an outbreak in non-healthcare settings, such as to determine when employee COVID-19 cases are part of an exposed group, the following definition shall apply:
  • At least three COVID-19 cases during a 7-day period.