(Santa Ana, CA) — Orange County Health Officer Dr. Clayton Chau issued two Health Officer’s Orders this week:
1) New Health Order to Help Prevent Spread of COVID-19 in Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly: As of December 16, 2020, all residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs) must cancel all communal dining and indoor communal activities within 24 hours of when a resident and/or employee is diagnosed with COVID-19.
• The facility may resume these activities after it has completed two consecutive rounds of COVID-19 tests for all residents and employees that are at least 7 days apart and the tests have all returned negative.
• All RCFEs that are permitted to hold communal dining and indoor communal activities must ensure that they are following the COVID-19 prevention guidelines found at https://occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/sites/virus/files/2020-10/RCFE%20Activity%20and%20Visitation%20Guidance%2010-25-20.pdf.
2) Mandatory Quarantine Order for Most Close Contacts Shortened from 14 to 10 days: In accordance with new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Public Health, Orange County residents and visitors who know that they have been in close contact with a person diagnosed with or likely to have COVID-19 shall quarantine themselves in their home or another residence for 10 days from the last date of exposure. They may not leave their place of quarantine except to receive necessary medical care or to obtain such other goods or services necessary for their basic subsistence.
Exceptions to the 10-day quarantine are detailed at: https://occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/article/oc-health-officers-orders-recommendations.
Individuals with questions about the COVID-19 may call the OC Health Care Agency’s OC COVID-19 Hotline at (714) 834-2000 Monday – Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. or email ETeam@ochca.com. For more information and resources about COVID-19, please visit www.ochealthinfo.com/novelcoronavirus.
