Public health management of persons, including health care workers, having had contact with COVID-19 cases in the European Union - first update

Abstract

This document aims to provide guidance for EU/EEA public health authorities on the management of persons, including healthcare workers, who had contact with COVID-19 cases. A contact of a COVID-19 case is a person not currently presenting symptoms, who has, or may have been in, contact with a COVID-19 case. The associated risk of infection depends on the level of exposure, which will, in turn, determine the type of monitoring. Establishing the level of exposure can be difficult and requires the case to be interviewed. The purpose of managing COVID-19 case contacts is: to identify symptomatic contacts as early as possible for isolation and treatment, and to facilitate prompt laboratory diagnostic testing.