Work self-isolation for essential health care workers
Regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status, high-risk contacts should not be working in the highest risk settings, unless required for critical work shortages.
To ensure sufficient staffing levels, staff who are critical to operations in these settings who are household contacts of cases, or have been otherwise advised to self-isolate, may return to work on work self-isolation if they:
- remain asymptomatic; AND
- are actively screened ahead of each shift; AND
- are fully vaccinated; AND
- continuously test negative on required testing (see table 1)
Alternatively, two negative RATs on days 6 and 7 collected 24 hours apart is sufficient to allow early return to work on day 7.
Table 1: Testing Requirements for Work Self-Isolation
| Nature of exposure | Work self-isolation | Testing Requirements |
| No ongoing exposure to case | 10 days since last exposure | RAT on day 6 and 7 for return on day 7
OR
Initial PCR test and daily RAT |
| Ongoing household exposure | Work self-isolation for 10 days from last exposure to the case in their period of contagiousness (up to 15 days from the date on which the household case became symptomatic or from the date of the positive test of the household case). | RAT on day 9 and 10 for return on day 11
OR
Initial PCR test and daily RAT |
| Ongoing outbreak exposure | Work self-isolation until 10 days after exposure to the last case (presuming ongoing exposure during the outbreak). | Follow PHU guidelines for RAT and PCR/rapid molecular testing as part of recommended outbreak management testing. |
| Staff who are cases (i.e. have tested positive) should not be considered for work self-isolation. Any critical situations where this is being considered must be discussed with the public health unit. |
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