Remember to Notify Your Close Contacts if You Test Positive for COVID-19

While COVID-19 cases are declining, infection rates are still high in Cambridge and the state. The Cambridge Public Health Department reminds residents who have COVID-19 to notify your close contacts so that they may take precautions to help stop the spread. A close contact is anyone who has been within 6 feet of you for 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period while indoors during the two days before you got sick OR the two days before your positive test was taken if you don’t have symptoms. By telling your close contacts that they may have been in contact with COVID-19, you are helping to protect everyone.

• Make a list of everyone you know who was a close contact. Ask yourself questions to better remember who you might have had close contact with.
  • Where did you go and who were you in contact with in the two days before you had symptoms or tested positive (whichever came first)?
  • Did you go to school, work or participate in social or recreational activities? Who was sitting near you during classes, meetings or meals?
  • Did you meet up with friends, go to an exercise class or a place of worship?
  • Did you have any appointments or attend any events?
• Reach out directly to people you know. If you do not know their contact information, try to inform them through other channels. For example, let the school, gym, church or other location know you have tested positive, with details about when and where you were in close contact with others.
• Report your positive test on MassNotify, the state’s automated exposure notification service, if you have it enabled on your phone. If you choose to share your result, other MassNotify users you have been close to recently will get a message that they may have been exposed to COVID-19. These messages will not share any information about you. The more people share their positive results, the more we’ll be able to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
• Let your employer know that you have COVID-19. While residents do not need to directly report positive COVID-19 results to the Cambridge Public Health Department (CPHD), Cambridge employers can report positive cases via the Cambridge Establishment Case Reporting form. Employers can find additional information here.

CPHD thanks the Cambridge community for its continued efforts to help protect against COVID-19. Vaccines and boosters, high quality masks, testing, and physical distancing are still very important. For people who have COVID-19 or who have been exposed, CPHD reminds you to follow Isolation and Quarantine Guidance.