New COVID-19 Guidance on Quarantine and Isolation Practices

On Tuesday, June 21, the Virginia Department of Human Resource Management (DHRM) notified state employees that Virginia public health experts have reassessed best practices to keep us safe and healthy following COVID-19 exposures. Please see the statement from Virginia State Health Commissioner Dr. Colin M. Greene. Effective June 16, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has updated guidance on effective quarantine and isolation practices. The VDH website provides general information and calculators that can be used to determine if and for how long one should quarantine or isolate depending upon their individual health risks and precautionary steps taken to date.

Per the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) updated guidance, if you were exposed, are up to date on your vaccines, or have had COVID-19 in the last 6 months, you do not need to quarantine and may return to work and normal activities. You should monitor for symptoms during the next 10 days, and if symptoms develop, please follow the VDH general information and calculators guidance on exposure with symptoms.

If you are exposed and/or are showing symptoms, VDH guidance encourages employees to follow this guidance and take measures to protect ourselves, our co-workers, and our families. For exposures, asymptomatic employees may request annual, VSDP family/personal, overtime, compensatory, or recognition leave for absences from the workplace. For employees who test positive or have symptoms, these leave options and traditional or VSDP sick leave may also be used. As a reminder, Public Health Emergency Leave (PHEL) is no longer available.

Please direct any questions to HRAdmin@nvcc.edu.

Submitted by:
Charlotte Calobrisi, AVP of HR, CCalobrisi@nvcc.edu