Official Site of The State of New Jersey

VISITATION AND MITIGATION UPDATE

Oct. 5, 2023

New Jersey Department of Corrections facilities remain under pre-pandemic indoor, contact visitation guidelines.

As of Sept. 12, 2023 there is a new version of the COVID-19 vaccine. All incarcerated persons will be offered the vaccine, either individually or at a pop-up clinic in NJDOC facilities. Per CDC guidance, routine testing of asymptomatic incarcerated persons is no longer indicated.

The signs and symptoms of COVID-19 present at illness onset vary, from no symptoms to one of more of the following: fever, headache, chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, myalgia, headache new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea. Incarcerated persons presenting with symptoms will be placed in isolation and tested for COVID-19.

Testing will be done on any incarcerated person who presents to the healthcare provider with any symptoms suspicious for COVID, and will be placed in isolation immediately.

Contacts of a positive person will be tested in accordance with CDC guidelines.

No testing will be done when receiving new admissions from a county where hospital admission levels are low or medium. Testing will occur when receiving intakes from a county where hospital admission levels are high.

Masking for incarcerated persons, staff and visitors is optional but may be required depending on facility or area transmission rates.

Employees should get tested in the community if they experience symptoms.

MITIGATION GUIDELINES (Updated Feb. 20, 2023)

Guidelines for staff and incarcerated person COVID-19 mitigation are developed based on CDC recommendations. All updates are in consultation with the Health Service Unit, Rutgers University contracted healthcare provider, and the New Jersey Department of Health. Continual monitoring and data trending of NJDOC incarcerated persons, staff, and community spread levels have additionally informed these decisions.

The following measures are required:

• Routine Covid-19 testing and routine quarantines for incarcerated persons will cease in line with CDC guidelines. Contact tracing, non-routine testing, and isolation placements will continue to be guided by a healthcare provider. Intake testing will remain in place for incarcerated persons received from County Jails.
• Continue with frequent sanitizing of common areas for both staff and incarcerated population.
• Staff and incarcerated persons are to mask at all times in the following areas: all medical, mental health, and dental areas at all times and in ALL areas when the COVID community level of the institution is high (Orange).
• Incarcerated persons shall be strongly encouraged to wear cloth or surgical masks outside their sleeping area when COVID community transmission level is high.

TESTING

Per recent CDC guidance, routine weekly asymptomatic testing will be suspended for all incarcerated persons.

QUARANTINE

Per recent CDC guidance, contacts of COVID positive individuals will no longer be routinely quarantined. Instead, contacts determined by proximity to positive individuals (e.g., bunkmate) or through contact tracing will be tested on or after day five (from the date of last exposure). In addition, contacts should be given surgical masks and strongly advised to wear a mask whenever outside sleeping areas for ten days from the date of exposure.

In circumstances where the need for non-routine quarantine arises, CDC guidance will be used to determine quarantine parameters. Such considerations include cohort size, testing, and masking.

SANITIZING

Frequent sanitizing of common areas is required.

MASKING AND PPE

• Staff transporting COVID-19-positive incarcerated persons in a vehicle shall wear an N95 mask, eye protection, gloves, and gown.
• Staff shall wear surgical masks at all times in the following areas: all medical, mental health, and dental areas.
• Incarcerated persons shall be strongly encouraged to wear cloth or surgical masks when outside their sleeping area when COVID community transmission level is high.
• Staff shall wear an N95 mask, eye protection, gloves, and gown when seeing patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 or when entering isolation or quarantine units.

GENERAL

Staff should not report to work if they are sick.