COVID-19 Health Care Provider Update, Dec. 8, 2020: Updated Testing Guidance

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COVID-19 Health Care Provider Update, Dec. 8, 2020

Guidance for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Testing in Alaska: The Alaska Section of Epidemiology (SOE) updated its testing guidance for health care providers on Dec. 7, 2020. The State of Alaska continues to recommend testing for anyone who is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 as well as targeted testing for asymptomatic persons. 

The updated SOE guidance aligns Alaska's testing guidance with new quarantine guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued on Dec. 2, 2020. While a 14-day quarantine period is still the safest quarantine duration, the CDC's guidance now offers two acceptable alternatives to shorten the quarantine period for those not experiencing symptoms. The first of those two options requires a test, and should only be offered if sufficient testing resources are available. 

The updated SOE guidance also provides information about the new CDC antigen testing algorithm that will help providers understand the advantages and disadvantages of antigen tests and in what settings they are most useful. 

Read the updated SOE guidance: dhss.alaska.gov/dph/Epi/id/SiteAssets/Pages/HumanCoV/AKCOVIDTestingGuidance.pdf