Virginia Code 32.1-48.07: Conditions for invoking the provisions of this article
A. Prior to issuing any order of quarantine or any order of isolation pursuant to this article, the State Health Commissioner shall ensure that:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 32.1-48.07
- Communicable disease of public health threat: means an illness of public health significance, as determined by the State Health Commissioner in accordance with regulations of the Board of Health, caused by a specific or suspected infectious agent that may be reasonably expected or is known to be readily transmitted directly or indirectly from one individual to another and has been found to create a risk of death or significant injury or impairment; this definition shall not, however, be construed to include human immunodeficiency viruses or tuberculosis, unless used as a bioterrorism weapon. See Virginia Code 32.1-48.06
- Isolation: means the physical separation, including confinement or restriction of movement, of an individual or individuals who are infected with or are reasonably suspected to be infected with a communicable disease of public health threat in order to prevent or limit the transmission of the communicable disease of public health threat to other uninfected and unexposed individuals. See Virginia Code 32.1-48.06
- Medical care facility: means any institution, place, building, or agency, whether or not licensed or required to be licensed by the Board or the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, whether operated for profit or nonprofit, and whether privately owned or privately operated or owned or operated by a local governmental unit, (i) by or in which health services are furnished, conducted, operated, or offered for the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of human disease, pain, injury, deformity, or physical condition, whether medical or surgical, of two or more nonrelated persons who are injured or physically sick or have mental illness, or for the care of two or more nonrelated persons requiring or receiving medical, surgical, nursing, acute, chronic, convalescent, or long-term care services, or services for individuals with disabilities, or (ii) which is the recipient of reimbursements from third-party health insurance programs or prepaid medical service plans. See Virginia Code 32.1-3
- Person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, or association or any other legal entity. See Virginia Code 32.1-3
- Quarantine: means the physical separation, including confinement or restriction of movement, of an individual or individuals who are present within an affected area, as defined herein, or who are known to have been exposed or may reasonably be suspected to have been exposed to a communicable disease of public health threat and who do not yet show signs or symptoms of infection with the communicable disease of public health threat in order to prevent or limit the transmission of the communicable disease of public health threat to other unexposed and uninfected individuals. See Virginia Code 32.1-48.06
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
1. Any quarantine or isolation is implemented in the least restrictive environment necessary to contain the communicable disease of public health threat;
2. Any quarantined persons shall be confined separately from any isolated persons, to the maximum extent practicable;
3. Upon determining that any quarantined person can be reasonably believed to have become infected with a communicable disease of public health threat, the infected person shall be promptly removed from quarantine and placed in isolation;
4. The health and disease status of any quarantined and isolated persons shall be monitored regularly to determine if such persons require continued quarantine or isolation;
5. Any quarantined or isolated persons shall be immediately released from quarantine or isolation upon a determination by the State Health Commissioner that such quarantined or isolated persons pose no risk of transmitting the communicable disease of public health threat to other persons; and
6. The site of any quarantine or isolation shall be, to the extent practicable, safely and hygienically maintained with adequate food, clothing, health care, and other essential needs made available to the persons who are subject to any order of quarantine or isolation.
B. All persons subject to an order of quarantine or an order of isolation shall comply with the order and the conditions governing their quarantine or isolation.
C. In the case of any person who has been quarantined or isolated in a location other than a medical care facility, the State Health Commissioner shall authorize health care professionals to enter the premises of quarantine or isolation. No person, other than such authorized health care professionals, shall enter the premises of quarantine or isolation, unless authorized by the State Health Commissioner. Upon determining that any person, who has entered the premises of quarantine or isolation, poses a threat to public health and safety, the State Health Commissioner may quarantine or isolate such person.