COVID-19 Guidance – Click Here in the graphic
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General
TOP 5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT COVID-19 AND DELTA VARIANT
- Getting vaccinated prevents severe illness, hospitalization, and death; it also helps reduce the spread of the virus in communities.
- Unvaccinated individuals should get vaccinated and continue masking until they are fully vaccinated.
- With the Delta variant, this is more urgent than ever. The highest spread of cases and severe outcomes is happening in places with low vaccination rates.
- Data show Delta is different than past versions of the virus: it is much more contagious.
- Some vaccinated people can get Delta in a breakthrough infection and may be contagious.
- Even so, vaccinated individuals represent a very small amount of transmission occurring around the country.
- Virtually all hospitalizations and deaths continue to be among the unvaccinated.
- In areas with substantial and high transmission, CDC recommends that everyone (including fully vaccinated individuals) wear a mask in public indoor settings to help prevent spread of Delta and protect others.
- CDC recommends that community leaders encourage vaccination and masking to prevent further outbreaks in areas of substantial and high transmission.
- CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status. Children should return to full-time in-person learning in the fall with layered prevention strategies in place. For more information visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/index.html
COVID-19 spreads when an infected person breathes out droplets and very small particles that contain the virus. These droplets and particles can be breathed in by other people or land on their eyes, noses, or mouth. In some circumstances, they may contaminate surfaces they touch. People who are closer than 6 feet from the infected person are most likely to get infected.
COVID-19 is spread in three main ways:
- Breathing in air when close to an infected person who is exhaling small droplets and particles that contain the virus.
- Having these small droplets and particles that contain virus land on the eyes, nose, or mouth, especially through splashes and sprays like a cough or sneeze.
- Touching eyes, nose, or mouth with hands that have the virus on them.
- If you are not fully vaccinated and 2 or older, you should wear a mask in indoor public places.
- In areas with high numbers of COVID-19 cases, consider wearing a mask in crowded outdoor settings and for activities with close contact with others who are not fully vaccinated.
- Otherwise, you do not need to wear a mask in outdoor settings.
COVID-19 can spread from people to animals in some situations. Pet cats and dogs can sometimes become infected after close contact with people with COVID-19. Learn what you should do if you have pets.
Food
There is no evidence to suggest that handling food or consuming food is associated with COVID-19. Follow food safety guidelines when handling and cleaning fresh produce. Do not wash produce with soap, bleach, sanitizer, alcohol, disinfectant or any other chemical.
Drinking Water
There is also no current evidence that people can get COVID-19 by drinking water. The COVID-19 virus has not been detected in drinking water. Conventional water treatment methods that use filtration and disinfection, such as those in most municipal drinking water systems, should remove or kill the virus that causes COVID-19.
Natural Bodies of Water (Lakes, Oceans, Rivers)
There are no scientific reports of the virus that causes COVID-19 spreading to people through the water in lakes, oceans, rivers, or other natural bodies of water.
Wastewater
Genetic material from has been found in untreated wastewater. There is little evidence of infectious virus in wastewater, and no information to date that anyone has become sick with COVID-19 because of exposure to wastewater. Wastewater treatment plants use chemical and other disinfection processes to remove and degrade many viruses and bacteria. COVID-19 is inactivated by the disinfection methods used in wastewater treatment.
Long-Term Care Facilities (LTCF)
Conferring Rights to DPH in the NHSN LTCF
Guidance LTCF Admitting Residence
Guidance for LTCF Resident Visitation
Long-Term Care Facility Administrative Order (Updated 6.30.2021)
Healthcare
Guidance Return to Work for Healthcare
Guidance for Mental and Behavioral Health Facilities
Healthcare Providers, Hospitals & Laboratories
- Review policies and procedures for infection prevention and mitigation and make sure all employees follow the appropriate steps.
- Review guidance for the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
- Consider using telemedicine, nurse triage lines and other options to prevent people with mild illnesses from coming to clinics and emergency rooms.
- Ask about travel history for patients presenting with respiratory illnesses and continue working closely with your local health department, DPH, and follow the CDC guidance.
COVID-19 Resources for People with Disabilites
COVID-19 is a new disease and we are still learning how it spreads, the severity of illness it causes, and to what extent it may spread in the United States.
Health Department Scheduling
or call (888) 457-0186 for assistance
Disability alone may not be related to higher risk for getting COVID-19 or having severe illness. Most people with disabilities are not inherently at higher risk for becoming infected with or having severe illness from COVID-19. However, some people with disabilities might be at a higher risk of infection or severe illness because of their underlying medical conditions. All people seem to be at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 if they have serious underlying chronic medical conditions like chronic lung disease, a serious heart condition, or a weakened immune system. Adults with disabilities are three times more likely than adults without disabilities to have heart disease, stroke, diabetes, or cancer than adults without disabilities.
FAQ for People with Disabilities
You should talk with your healthcare provider if you have a question about your health or how your health condition is being managed.
Currently, all people 16 years and older with or without disabilities are eligible for vaccination in Georgia.
Materials for specific groups:
Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ASL)
Dr. Kathleen Toomey (Commissioner, Georgia Department of Public Health) ASL Video
Dr. Toomey Vaccine Video – YouTube
ASL COVID 19 Vaccine What To Expect – YouTube
Easy to Read COVID-19 Safety
These Easy to Read COVID-19 materials were primarily developed for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and others who read or listen with understanding below a third-grade level.
COVID-19 Accessible Materials
COVID 19 Accessible materials made by GA TECH Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation
Social (Visual) Stories – What to Expect During Your Vaccine Appointments
Double Dose Appointment – Social Story (1.6 MB)Single Dose Appointment – Social Story (1.3 MB)Education
DPH Guide for Georgia Childcare Facilities
Return to Child Care After COVID-19 Illness and Exposure
Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools
Key Takeaways
- Students benefit from in-person learning, and safely returning to in-person instruction in the fall 2021 is a priority.
- Vaccination is the leading public health prevention strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Promoting vaccination can help schools safely return to in-person learning as well as extracurricular activities and sports.
- Due to the circulating and highly contagious Delta variant, CDC recommends universal indoor masking by all students (age 2 and older), staff, teachers, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.
- In addition to universal indoor masking, CDC recommends schools maintain at least 3 feet of physical distance between students within classrooms to reduce transmission risk. When it is not possible to maintain a physical distance of at least 3 feet, such as when schools cannot fully re-open while maintaining these distances, it is especially important to layer multiple other prevention strategies, such as screening testing.
- Screening testing, ventilation, handwashing and respiratory etiquette, staying home when sick and getting tested, contact tracing in combination with quarantine and isolation, and cleaning and disinfection are also important layers of prevention to keep schools safe.
- Students, teachers, and staff should stay home when they have signs of any infectious illness and be referred to their healthcare provider for testing and care.
- Many schools serve children under the age of 12 who are not eligible for vaccination at this time. Therefore, this guidance emphasizes implementing layered prevention strategies (e.g., using multiple prevention strategies together consistently) to protect students, teachers, staff, visitors, and other members of their households and support in-person learning.
- Localities should monitor community transmission, vaccination coverage, screening testing, and occurrence of outbreaks to guide decisions on the level of layered prevention strategies (e.g., physical distancing, screening testing).
COVID-19 Guidance for Operating Early Care and Education/Child Care Programs
Key Takeaways
- Vaccination is currently the leading public health prevention strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Promoting vaccination among eligible individuals can help Early Care and Education (ECE) programs protect staff and children in their care, as well as their families.
- Most ECE programs serve children under the age of 12 who are not yet eligible for vaccination at this time. Therefore, this guidance emphasizes implementing layered COVID-19 prevention strategies (e.g., using multiple prevention strategies together) to protect children and adults who are not fully vaccinated.
- COVID-19 prevention strategies remain critical to protect people, including children and staff, who are not fully vaccinated, especially in areas of moderate-to-high community transmission levels.
- Masks should be worn indoors by all individuals (ages 2 and older) who are not fully vaccinated. ECE settings may implement universal mask use in some situations, such as if they have increasing, substantial, or high COVID-19 transmission in their ECE program or community, and while they serve a population not yet eligible for vaccination.
- Localities should monitor community transmission, vaccination coverage, the occurrence of outbreaks, and local policies and regulations to guide decisions on the use of layered prevention strategies.
Businesses
Guidance Return to Work for Non-Healthcare
Guidance for Food Service, Restaurants and Bars
February 16, 2021
Interim Guidance for Seasonal Farmworkers and Their Employers in Georgia
Farming is an essential business operation and activity, often supported with the use of migrant and seasonal farmworkers. COVID-19 can spread rapidly in settings with many people living in close proximity, including living facilities for migrant farmworkers. Agriculture employers and farm labor contractors should develop and implement plans to prevent exposure to the virus that causes COVID- 19, care for individuals with COVID-19, and prevent further transmission of the disease.
Promote Prevention of COVID-19 Spread at Work
General Recommendations
- Create a COVID-19 assessment and control plan.
- Provide masks or cloth face coverings for workers to wear.
- Make sure that workers have access to handwashing supplies, hand sanitizer, tissues, and trash cans at the worksite, in common areas, where they sleep, and where they eat.
- Use hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol.
- Provide a disinfectant that is active against coronaviruses to sanitize counters, bathrooms, and other areas.
- Promote social distancing by providing 6 feet between workspaces, where possible.
- If not possible, consider creating partitions between workspaces.
- Grouping workers together into cohorts may reduce the spread of COVID-19 transmission in the workplace. Creating cohorts may minimize the number of different individuals who come into close contact with each other over the course of a week, and may also reduce the number of workers quarantined because of exposure to the virus. If you have not already, reach out to your local county or district health department to establish communication.
- Basic information and training about infection prevention should be provided to all farmworkers in appropriate languages.
Monitor for Illness
- Ask workers before they start work each day if they have symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, or a two-or-more of the following symptoms including chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, or new loss of taste or smell. Take their temperature, if possible.
- If they have any of these symptoms do not allow them to work that day.
- House them in the area designated for sick people and arrange for them to see a medical provider if needed. Call the medical provider in advance so healthcare workers can take appropriate precautionary measures.
- Workers with symptoms of COVID-19 should take a private vehicle to get to the medical provider if seeking medical care. If they do not have their own vehicle, please assist with transportation. Circulate air by partially lowering window panes (weather permitting).
- If a worker becomes sick during the workday, have the worker stop working immediately and isolate the person from other workers, including others who may have COVID-19 symptoms or have received a positive diagnosis for COVID-19. People with these symptoms should not be working.
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