Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC)
- Management has developed guidance on how to deal with COVID-19 exposure that uses different terminology, definitions, and recommendations than the guidance currently offered by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).
- To most effectively manage your personal risk in the event of an exposure, it’s helpful to understand how management’s definitions and guidance compare to the CDC guidance.
- More information about CDC guidance for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals can be found on the CDC website.
Fortunately, we are in a period of relatively low COVID-19 transmission and reported hospitalizations and deaths continue to trend downward. Despite low case counts, there is the possibility that another spike in COVID-19 cases could occur if new variants emerge and precautions like mask mandates and social distancing are reduced.
To help understand and manage your personal risk as we enter this next phase of the pandemic, it is helpful to know how the Company handles and communicates known COVID-19 exposures and how that differs from current CDC guidance. The Company has created two categories of exposure, “low risk” and “high risk”.
Company Defined “Low Risk Exposure” – It is AFA’s understanding that the Company’s “low risk exposure” is essentially the same as the CDC’s “close contact”. This occurs when you were less than 6 feet away from an infectious person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period. A person is considered infectious starting 2 days before they have any symptoms, or if asymptomatic 2 days before taking a test which came back positive for COVID-19.
Company Defined “High Risk Exposure” – This differs significantly from the CDC’s definition of “close contact”. To qualify as “high risk exposure”, the person you were less than 6 feet away from for a cumulative 15 minutes over a 24-hour period must also have symptoms of COVID-19 while (or within two days of the time that) you were with them. One of you must also have been without a mask. If the exposure was to an asymptomatic COVID-19 positive individual or you were both wearing a mask, it will not be classified as “high risk”. As you can see, this greatly reduces the chance of an exposure being categorized as “high risk”.
To manage risk, we recommend that you treat notifications of “low risk” exposure from the Company as “close contact” as defined by the CDC.
If you are up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations or have had a confirmed case of COVID-19 within the past 90 days, it is not necessary to quarantine. However, the CDC still recommends that you take certain precautions. Even if you don’t develop symptoms, get tested at least 5 days after you last had CDC defined “close contact” with (or Company defined “high risk” or “low risk” exposure to) someone with COVID-19. Until 10 days after that contact/exposure you should also watch for symptoms, isolate if you develop symptoms, wear a well-fitted mask any time you are around others, and avoid being around people who are at high risk.
Check out this link for additional CDC guidance for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals who have had “close contact”.
