IDPH Guidances Relating to the COVID-19 Outbreak
Personal Protective EquipmentPE Guidance for COVID-19 in Long- Term Care Settings
Implement strategies to optimize current personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies even before shortages occur, including bundling patient/resident care and treatment activities to minimize entries into patient/resident rooms.
Audience:
Places of Worship Guidance
- English
-
COVID-19 Guidance for Places of Worship and Providers of Religious Services
Audience:
Plumbing Systems and Water Quality Guidance
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Plumbing and Water Quality Program has issued this memorandum to building owners and operators, and public water supply operators to provide guidance for maintaining water quality and safety in building water systems and in potable water distribution systems during periods of reduced use and considerations for returning building water systems to regular use.
Audience:
Potential Exposure
What to do if you were potentially exposed to someone with confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
If you think you have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, follow the steps below to monitor your health and to avoid spreading the disease to others.
How do I know if I was exposed?
You generally need to be in close contact with a person with COVID-19 to get infected. Close contact includes:
Audience:
Pregnant Women and Newborns
Purpose
This guidance provides recommendations for the care of pregnant women and newborns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prehospital Considerations
Pregnant patients who have confirmed COVID-19, who are persons under investigation (PUIs), or who have active symptoms of COVID-19 should notify the obstetric unit prior to arrival so the facility can make appropriate infection control preparations. These preparations include identifying the most appropriate room for labor and delivery, ensuring infection prevention and control supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) are correctly positioned, and informing health care personnel who will be involved in the patient’s care of infection control expectations.
Audience:
Private RV Parks and Campground Guidelines
Part of Phase 3 of Restore Illinois Plan
Last updated May 27, 2020
This document is applicable to businesses that meet the following criteria:
Audience:
Provider Guidance for Testing
Background
Health care providers are strongly encouraged to test for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), when patients present with any signs or symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or have had a known exposure to a person with COVID-19 infection. Due to the nonspecific clinical presentation of COVID-19 and the potential for co-infection with other pathogens, every symptomatic person should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and testing decisions should be based on the patient’s personal health history. Because many COVID-19 cases have been observed in persons who originally discounted their symptoms due to other existing health conditions, e.g., allergies, prompt and early diagnosis of COVID-19 infection is strongly recommended to prevent further transmission.
Quarantine Guidance
On December 2, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new options for public health authorities to consider for establishing quarantine time frames for contacts of persons with SARS-CoV-2. Click here to review the full details on these new options.
The CDC currently recommends a quarantine period of 14 days. Further, local public health authorities determine and establish quarantine options for their jurisdictions and may decide to continue using a 14-day period and/or shortened options for certain lower risk close contacts. However, the following options to shorten quarantine are acceptable alternatives:
Rapid Point-Of-Care Testing for COVID-19 in Community Settings and Schools
Background
This guidance addresses use of rapid point-of-care testing in schools and other community settings either when testing is being administered in school health-based clinics, onsite by trained healthcare workers, or in pharmacies or health care facilities. This guidance is being released in conjunction with the state’s distribution of Abbott BinaxNOW tests to local health departments, schools and other settings. The BinaxNOW test is one of several rapid point-of-care antigen tests that are available and in use right now. This guidance is also applicable to other types of tests as described below.
Audience:
Releasing COVID-19 Cases from Isolation and Quarantine
- English
-
Cases
Must be isolated for a minimum of 10 days after symptom onset (or specimen collection date if asymptomatic) and can be released when the following criteria are met:
- Case is afebrile (without fever-reducing medication) for at least 24 hours and with improvement of COVID-19 symptoms.
OR
- Case Has 2 Negative COVID-19 PCR tests in a row, with specimens collected and testing done at least 24 hours apart
A test-based strategy is no longer recommended in the majority of cases. Consult with infectious disease physician.
*A limited number of persons with severe illness or who are severely immunosuppressed may produce replication-competent virus beyond 10 days; this may warrant extending duration of isolation and precautions for up to 20 days after symptom onset or first positive test (if no symptoms). Consult with the infectious disease physician.