Public Health Tips:

• Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines.
• Get tested if you have symptoms. 
• Wear a mask if you have symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19. 
• You may choose to wear a mask at any time as an additional precaution to protect yourself and others. 
• If you are at high risk for severe illness, consider wearing a mask indoors in public and taking additional precautions

COVID Updates - August 2022

On August 11, 2022, the CDC updated and streamlined guidance regarding COVID-19. The CDC acknowledges that COVID-19 continues to circulate globally, yet we have many tools available to us for reducing COVID-19 severity (the goal). 

With the availability of vaccines, boosters, and treatment, there is significantly less risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death compared to earlier in the pandemic. This guidance is further acknowledgement that, while COVID-19 is still with us, for a majority of people, COVID-19 no longer severely disrupts their daily lives.

To prevent medically significant COVID-19 illness and death, persons must understand their risk, take steps to protect themselves and others with vaccines, therapeutics, and nonpharmaceutical interventions when needed, receive testing and wear masks when exposed, receive testing if symptomatic, and isolate for ≥5 days if infected.

MA DPH COVID-19 Response Reporting Pages: Interactive tools where you can navigate state, county, or town-specific facts and figures regarding cases, testing, and hospitalizations.

Click here to view State and Community-Specific Data

Click here for Massachusetts COVID-19 vaccination data and updates

Further Resources for COVID-19 Information:

Click here to find a COVID-19 vaccine near you

Click here to access your personal vaccination record or to download your QR code

Click here to learn about CDC COVID-19 Booster Eligibility

Click here to learn about CDC COVID-19 Community Levels and Prevention Steps by County

Testing Positive:

If you test positive for COVID-19 Stay home, away from others for at least 5 days, and then continue to wear a well-fitting mask for an additional 5 days

• If you have no symptoms or your symptoms are resolving after 5 days, you can leave your house on day 6.
• Continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others, indoors or outdoors (including at home) for days 6-10. 
• If you have a fever, continue to stay home until your fever resolves.
• Be sure to notify your close contacts if you test positive. Encourage them to visit this page to get guidance specific to them.
• Call your doctor for medical support.

If you cannot mask stay home and isolate for 10 days. If you never had symptoms or symptoms are improving, you may end your isolation on day 11

For current Massachusetts Department of Public Health Guidance on Testing Positive for COVID-19 and Isolation: Click here

For information on Testing positive for COVID-19 and isolation from the CDC

*MA DPH does not require reporting of home COVID-19 Tests to Local Boards of Health*

Close Contact Exposure Precautions Per MA DPH:

If you have been exposed to someone with COVID, you do not need to quarantine as long as you remain asymptomatic, regardless of your vaccination status. You must wear a mask any time you are around others inside your home or indoors in public for the 10 days following your exposure unless you are unable to mask. You are unable to consistently wear a mask due to young age or medical or behavioral condition. 

If you were exposed and develop symptoms at any time, isolate and take a test and stay home until you know the result. If the result is positive, follow isolation protocols. If your test is negative or if you have remained asymptomatic, take a test on day 6.

• If you have not had COVID-19 in the last 90 days, you can test with either a rapid antigen or PCR test.
• People who had COVID-19 in the last 90 days should test with a rapid antigen test, not a PCR test.
• People who had COVID-19 in the last 30 days are not recommended to test on day 6 but should use a rapid antigen test if they develop any symptoms.
• If you test positive, follow isolation guidance. 

For Current Exposure Precaution guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health click here

For Current Exposure Precautions from CDC click here

Much of the COVID-19 transmission that happens in Acton is within a household. It can be hard to isolate at home away from household members. Please call us for assistance, we’re here to help!  Please call the Acton Board of Health at 978-929-6632 or Acton Public Health Nursing Service at 978-929-6650.

Link to Free Home COVID-19 Tests

Expiration Dates of some At Home COVID Tests have been extended. Click here to check expiration dates.

Additional Information for Specific Populations and Workplaces - Details relating to exposure, isolation, and testing can depend on where you work, go to school or live. Be sure to be alert to location-specific policies:

• Congregate Care guidance can be found here.
• Health Care Personnel guidance can be found here.
• Licensed Childcare [Child Care/Daycare] guidance can be found here. Please also contact your child’s program director for the next steps. 
• K-12 School COVID-19 Health and Safety Information can be found here. Schools may have policies stricter than Mass DPH or the Local Board of Health. Please reach out to your school nurse if you or a household member tests positive.

CDC Summary of Guidance for Minimizing the Impact of COVID-19 on Individual, Persons, Communities, and Health Care - click here

CDC Understanding your Risk - click here

CDC COVID-19: Exposure Risks & Prevention - click here

 The CDC has consolidated and simplified its information on factors that lower or increase risk of transmission: 

• Length of time: How long were you with the infected person? 
• Cough or heavy breathing: Was the infected person coughing, singing, shouting, or breathing heavily? 
• Symptoms: Did the infected person have symptoms at the time? 
• Masks: Were you or the infected person or both wearing a respirator (for example, N95) or a high-quality mask? 
• Ventilation and filtration: How well-ventilated was the space? 
• Distance: How close was the infected person to you?

COVID-19 Vaccines

COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. Vaccines help protect against illness from the disease, drastically reducing the severity of disease and the likelihood of hospitalization for those who become infected.  It is valid and healthy to be skeptical, especially with how often guidance and best practices are updated, and with so much misinformation making its way through social platforms. Acton Board of Health recommends community members keep themselves abreast of the latest COVID-19 science, research, and data trends, and the best way to do this is to go straight to the source- the CDC. 

• The CDC has recently created a “Science Brief” page that takes you in-depth on studies that inform best practices and decision-making related to the pandemic which can be found here.

• Additionally, you can sign up to receive a weekly report via email with the latest scientific developments directly from the CDC: Sign up here.
• You can also check out the CDC’s COVID-19 Data Tracker for a wide range of current facts and figures which are available on this user-friendly, interactive website. 

Consider activating the MassNotify tool on your smartphone. MassNotify is a service to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Learn more about MassNotify here.

If you have reviewed this information and still have questions, please call us at (978) 929-6632 or send an email to health@actonma.gov.

Mask Mandate Rescinded Effective February 24, 2022

During the February 23 Board of Health meeting, the Board voted to rescind the mask mandate effective at 12:01 AM on Thursday, February 24, 2022. As such, face coverings are no longer required in indoor public spaces within the Town of Acton.