COVID-19 Information for Employers and Employees

Employee Screening for COVID-19

To help protect the public against the spread of COVID-19, it is strongly recommended that all employees perform a daily symptom assessment each day before work.

• All employees who are able to work from home should be working from home.
   
• For those employees who must report: take your temperature with a thermometer each day. If you have a fever at or above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, stay home. Also monitor for other symptoms of COVID-19, including new cough or shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, chills, fatigue, muscle or body aches, new onset severe headache, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, or diarrhea, and stay home if they occur.
   
• Call a doctor or use telemedicine if your symptoms concern you.
   
• If COVID-19 is confirmed or suspected, employees can return to work when they meet the following criteria from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
   
  • Employees with symptoms who have lab-confirmed COVID-19 or who have not been tested should stay home until:
     
    • At least 10 days have passed since your symptoms first began AND
    • At least 24 hours have passed since there has been no fever without use of fever-reducing medication AND
    • There has been improvement in other symptoms.

If an employee is severely immunocompromised, a healthcare provider may determine that a longer timeframe is recommended. 

• Employees without symptoms who have lab-confirmed COVID-19 should stay home until:
  • At least 10 days have passed since the date of your first positive test.
    
    However, if you develop symptoms in that time period, refer instead to the criteria for people with symptoms (above). If an employee is severely immunocompromised, a healthcare provider may determine that a longer timeframe is recommended. 
     
• It is best to use a touchless thermometer (forehead/ temporal artery thermometer) if possible, but if you must use oral or another type of thermometer, make sure to clean it thoroughly between each use.
  • Follow the manufacturer’s directions to disinfect the thermometer.
  • If no directions are available, rinse the tip of the thermometer in cold water, clean it with alcohol or alcohol swabs, and then rinse it again.

If you cannot find a thermometer, monitor for symptoms of respiratory infection (fever, cough, shortness of breath) and other symptoms of COVID-19, which can include chills, fatigue, muscle or body aches, new onset severe headache, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, or diarrhea.

• If you do not have symptoms, proceed to work.
  • If you do have symptoms, stay home from work until you meet the above criteria.
  • If you do have symptoms, but have a known cause (asthma, COPD, chronic sinusitis, etc.) and HAVE NOT been exposed to someone with confirmed COVID-19, proceed to work.
  • If you do have symptoms, but have a known cause (asthma, COPD, chronic sinusitis, etc.) and HAVE been exposed to someone with confirmed COVID-19, stay home for 14 days from the time you were exposed.
     
• If at any time a doctor confirms the cause of a fever or other symptoms is not COVID-19 and approves an employee’s return to work, then the employee can return.

• Please remember to continue to follow preventative measures no matter how many employees are in the workplace — practice physical distancing, stay home when sick, use cough and sneeze etiquette, and practice hand hygiene as often as possible. Clean all high-touch surfaces regularly.

Updated Nov. 2, 2020.

For answers to your COVID-19 questions, call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH (1-833-427-5634).

Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. If you or a loved one are experiencing anxiety related to the coronavirus pandemic, help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Call the COVID-19 CareLine at 1-800-720-9616.

Additional Resources:

How to take your temperature from the Cleveland Clinic: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/9959-thermometers-how-to-take-your-temperature.

Protect yourself and others from COVID-19 by taking these precautions.

• Stay home except for work or other needs
• Wear a face covering when going out
• Practice social distancing of at least 6 feet from others
• Shop at non-peak hours.
• Wash hands often with water and soap (20 seconds or longer)
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, mouth with unwashed hands or after touching surfaces
• Cover your mouth with a tissue or sleeve when coughing or sneezing
• Clean and disinfect "high-touch" surfaces often
• Don’t work when sick
• Call before visiting your doctor

If you have questions regarding Coronavirus/COVID-19 please call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH (1-833-427-5634)

CLEAN ALL "HIGH-TOUCH" SURFACES EVERY DAY

High touch surfaces include counters, tabletops, doorknobs, bathroom fixtures, toilets, phones, keyboards, tablets, and bedside tables. Also, clean any surfaces that may have blood, stool, or body fluids on them. Use a household cleaning spray or wipe according to the label instructions. Labels contain instructions for safe and effective use of the cleaning product including precautions you should take when applying the product, such as wearing gloves and making sure you have good ventilation during use of the product.

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