If you are a County employee experiencing one or more of the below symptoms commonly associated with COVID that you cannot attribute to another condition, you must stay home, notify your supervisor, and answer "yes" to the symptoms listed on your daily health screening With cold and flu season upon us, please do not self-diagnosis or assume your condition is not COVID-related. The Liaison may direct you to be tested before you receive clearance to return to work in the office or field. Employees going through this process are able to be tested at the County's PH Lab in SLO and results typically come back within 24-36 hours. 

• Chills
• Cough
• Fever
• Muscle Pain
• New Loss of Taste or Smell
• Shortness of Breath or Difficulty Breathing
• Sore Throat
• Nausea or vomiting
• Congestion or runny nose
• Headache
• Fatigue
• Diarrhea

As of 02/09/22: 

The County of San Luis Obispo Public Health Officer announced that starting February 16, 2022 face coverings are no longer required for vaccinated individuals indoors. 

Face coverings* are required for unvaccinated individuals in indoor public settings and businesses. 

Face coverings are also required for all individuals in the following settings, regardless of vaccination status:

• Public transit
• Indoors in K-12 schools, childcare
• Healthcare settings
• Correctional facilities and detention centers
• Homeless shelters
• Long term care settings and senior care facilities

*Per the Cal OSHA Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS), a face covering means a surgical mask, a medical procedure mask, a respirator worn voluntarily, or a tightly woven fabric or non-woven material of at least two layers (i.e., fabrics that do not let light pass through when held up to a light source) that completely covers the nose and mouth and is secured to the head with ties, ear loops, or elastic bands that go behind the head. If gaiters are worn, they shall have two layers of fabric or be folded to make two layers. A face covering is a solid piece of material without slits, visible holes, or punctures, and must fit snugly over the nose, mouth, and chin with no large gaps on the outside of the face. A face covering does not include a scarf, ski mask, balaclava, bandana, turtleneck, collar, or single layer of fabric.

Unvaccinated employees are exempt from wearing face coverings in the following indoor specific settings:

• Persons actively eating/drinking.
• Persons who are working in an office or in a room alone.
• Persons who are obtaining a service involving the nose or face for which temporary removal of the face covering is necessary to perform the service.
• Workers who are required to wear respiratory protection.
• Persons who are specifically exempted from wearing face coverings by other CDPH guidance.

The following individuals are exempt from wearing face coverings at all times:

• Persons younger than two years old. These very young children must not wear a face covering because of the risk of suffocation.
• Persons with a medical condition, mental health condition, or disability that prevents wearing a face covering. This includes persons with a medical condition for whom wearing a face covering could obstruct breathing or who are unconscious, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to remove a face covering without assistance. Such conditions are rare.
• Persons who are hearing impaired, or communicating with a person who is hearing impaired, where the ability to see the mouth is essential for communication.
• Persons for whom wearing a face covering would create a risk to the person related to their work, as determined by local, state, or federal regulators or workplace safety guidelines.

Note: Persons exempted from wearing a face covering due to a medical condition who are employed in a job involving regular contact with others must continue to wear a non-restrictive alternative, such as a face shield with a drape on the bottom edge, as long as their condition permits it.

If you have a medical condition that prevents you from wearing a face covering, please inform your supervisor and provide them with your doctor’s note. The doctor’s note does not need to provide the diagnosis or even the symptoms, just a confirmation of the need for an exclusion from the cloth mask requirement. This is similar to what employees are required to provide to their employers as part of  Americans with Disabilities Act and is not in violation of any of privacy laws.

If your job requires you to have regular contact with others, you will be required to wear a non-restrictive alternative such as a face shield in the same situations that calls for a face covering. The County will supply the shield in those instances. You may not use a face shield in the place of a face covering without a documented medical condition, as a face shield is less effective than a mask in protecting those around you.

Cloth face covering provide greater protection than face shields; therefore, a face shield is not an alternative unless you are exempt from wearing a cloth face covering.

The County is not requiring masks to obtain services. Refusing service to a patron for not wearing a face covering could elevate other safety risks, including violence.

If a customer is threatening or belligerent, follow your department’s protocol for removing such customers. Feel free to reach out to Risk Management at (805) 781-1346 if you need assistance with a Reception Desk Protocol.

To say, per CalOSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standards, the County as an employer must develop and implement a process for screening employees for and responding to employees with COVID-19 symptoms.

If you answer yes to any of the COVID symptoms and cannot attribute them to another condition (e.g. coughing because of allergies) please stay home and notify your supervisor. You will be contacted by the Public Health (PH) Liaison and provided further direction. You may only return to work once you have been given clearance by PH.

The County treats this information as confidential and will protect your personal privacy; however, it is not HIPAA protected Personal Health Information (PHI). Our screening results will only be shared with select individuals who have a need to know in order to ensure employees experiencing COVID related symptoms are not reporting to work and are connected with Public Health for further instruction and clearance to return to work. Screenings that reveal symptoms (one or more Yes answers) will be shared with the Public Health Department. They will be maintained separate from your personnel file. Screenings that reveal no symptoms (all No answers) will be deleted or shredded.

No, pre-shift time spent on health checks is not compensable since it is not a principal activity of your job. The questionnaire should only take seconds to complete.

Yes, the CDC encourages you to use telemedicine services, rather than visiting a doctor's office or clinic, to limit the spread of the virus. All copays will be waived when utilizing Anthem’s Live Health Online telemedicine for the purpose of discussing COVID-19. Anthem’s Live Health Online (LHO) provides access to Telemedicine services via your phone, tablet or computer for you and your covered dependents. Visits are confidential and can be made wherever you are most comfortable.  Sign up and download the corresponding app to schedule a telemedicine appointment.  

Please see the Public Health guidance on how to receive your COVID-19 vaccine. 

To check booster eligibility, see Can I Get a COVID-19 Booster Dose?

For more information, visit Who Can Get a Booster Shot. 

The County is balancing providing service to the community and protecting employee’s health. Any employee that believes they cannot work may use their leave balances consistent with Department notification protocol. The Public Health Department is actively working with the CDC, with the state of California Department of Public Health (CDPH), other County officials, local health care providers, and other partners to protect your health. Please refer to the County’s Safety Guidelines for additional information.

Please answer yes to the question of If you have been in contact with a confirmed COVID-19 positive individual. A Public Health Liaison will contact to let you know your next steps based on your vaccination status.

As always, if you are experiencing COVID-19 related symptoms, you should stay home from work to self-monitor your symptoms and seek medical attention as needed. Fill out your daily health questionnaire and you will be contacted by the Public Health (PH) Liaison for further instructions. 

You can get tested at any of the community testing sites. If you complete your daily health screening and answer "yes" to any of the questions, the Public Health Liason will contact you. They can then submit a referral for you to get tested at the Public Health lab in SLO. 

Yes. California has mandated insurance companies and Medi-Cal plans reduce cost sharing to zero (including co-pays, deductibles, or co-insurance) for all medically necessary screening and testing for COVID-19, including hospital, urgent care visits, and provider office visits where the purpose of the visit is to be screened and/or tested for COVID-19. For more information, please refer to the DMHC’s All Plan Letter.   

Governor Newsom signed AB84/SB114 into law on Wednesday, February 9, 2022, granting up to an additional 80 hours of leave for COVID-related absences for employees unable to telework. This bill provides for two separate buckets of up to 40 hours each depending on the type of COVID leave. This new leave will be effective February 19, 2022 (but is retroactive to January 1, 2022) and available through September 30, 2022.

• One bucket of 40 hours can be used for:
  • Quarantining or isolating because of a COVID exposure for the employee or a family member.
  • Vaccine appointments for the employee or a family member.
  • Recovery from vaccine side effects for the employee or a family member (time off for vaccine side effects are limited to 3 days unless a healthcare provider verifies that additional recovery time is needed).
  • School or childcare closures due to COVID-19 on the premises.
  • If an employee is sick with COVID symptoms and is waiting on the results of a medical diagnosis.
• The other bucket of 40 hours can be used for:
  • If an employee or family member tests positive for COVID-19 (you will be required to provide proof of a positive test).
• Employees who are quarantining because of a workplace exposure and do not have sick leave balances available are still eligible to use code 0059 with no change to that process. Employees will not be required to use this new leave before they can use code 0059.

You can use your sick leave balances if you are called in to work and you are unable to report because you are sick.  If you are unable to report to a Disaster Service Worker call due to illness, you can code sick leave for that time you were unavailable. 

Yes, depending on your bargaining unit (BU) and your benefit elections, you may be covered under a short term disability (STD) policy which will provide benefits if you are out of work for longer than 7 days and meet the plan provisions.

For more information the County's safety guidelines, review the County Injury and Illness Prevention Plan-COVID Addendum. 

The current travel advisory recommends:

• All travelers follow CDC travel guidance.
• All travelers test 3-5 after arrival. 
• All travelers who test positive for COVID-19 or develop symptoms isolate and follow the public health guidelines.  

Please let HR - Countywide Safety or your Department’s Safety Rep know if you have questions or concerns.