Given the current situation in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health is still recommending that essential workers quarantine at home for 14 days following exposure to someone with COVID-19.

Although the CDC has issued guidance that would allow essential workers to return to work immediately after an exposure to account for staffing shortages, with masking, temperature checks, and other precautions, we do not feel it is time to move to adopting this guidance at this time in Philadelphia. As the situation changes, we may need to move in this direction to keep critical services functioning, but for now, we are asking that Philadelphia businesses and organizations continue to have workers who have been exposed to COVID-19 quarantine at home for 14 days.

We have made this recommendation based on both the current case numbers in Philadelphia and on data coming from New York City that show significant disparities in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by race and ethnicity:

We know that Black and Latino city residents are less likely to be able to work remotely. We also know that these groups have disproportionate rates of chronic conditions including diabetes, heart and lung disease that put them at greater risk of severe infection and death.

These high rates are the result of systemic inequality that dates back for generations and that will not be fixed during this pandemic. But we believe that we need to ensure that the pandemic does not exacerbate existing inequalities and that we need to do everything possible to protect those who are already at highest risk.

For now, we ask that essential businesses and other critical infrastructure organizations continue to follow the practice of quarantining those who have been exposed to protect their other staff members and the city as a whole.

The Health Department continues to monitor data from across the country and in Philadelphia and will adjust these recommendations as needed.