Small outbreak of Covid-19 in Vermont prison prompts change in the CDC's guidelines for what qualifies as close contact with an infected person.
The Vermont Department of Health followed up with the corrections officer who'd been in contact with the prisoners, but determined the officer's interactions with the prisoners were so brief — about one minute at a time — that he was considered low risk. The experience did not meet the CDC's criteria at the time for"close contact" with a confirmed Covid-19 case, defined as closer than 6 feet for at least 15 minutes.
Health officials went back and reviewed surveillance video of those encounters. The video showed that the officer had spent just about a minute at a time within 6 feet of prisoners who were later revealed to be presymptomatic.Over an eight-hour shift, those brief encounters added up to about 17 minutes total. The officer wore a mask, but the prisoners did not during some of the encounters.
In a statement, the CDC said the case"significantly adds to the scientific knowledge of the risk to contacts of those with Covid-19 and highlights again the importance of wearing face masks to prevent transmission." "The more time you spend with someone" who is infected with Covid-19, Schaffner said,"the more likely you are to get infected. It may have been that one of these six prisoners was a superspreader shedding an awful lot of virus."
Because it's impossible to identify who might be carrying and shedding the virus without symptoms, Schaffner suggested looming holidays should be socially distant, with face coverings, or even virtual.As many as half of all people who have Covid-19 do not show symptoms, according to the CDC.
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