WAC 246-100-045   Conditions and principles for isolation or quarantine.  The local health officer shall adhere to the following conditions and principles when isolating or quarantining a person or group of persons in accordance with WAC 246-100-040:

     (1) Isolation or quarantine must be by the least restrictive means necessary to prevent the spread of a communicable or possibly communicable disease to others and may include, but are not limited to, confinement to private homes or other public or private premises;

     (2) Isolated individuals must be confined separately from quarantined individuals;

     (3) The health status of isolated or quarantined individuals must be monitored regularly to determine if they require continued isolation or quarantine;

     (4) If a quarantined individual subsequently becomes infected or is reasonably believed to have become infected with a communicable or possibly communicable disease that the local health officer believes poses a significant threat to the health and safety of other quarantined individuals, he or she must promptly be placed in isolation;

     (5) Isolated or quarantined individuals must be released as soon as practicable when the local health officer determines that they have been successfully decontaminated or that they pose no substantial risk of transmitting a communicable or possibly communicable disease that would constitute a serious or imminent threat to the health and safety of others;

     (6) The needs of a person isolated or quarantined must be addressed to the greatest extent possible in a systematic and competent fashion, including, but not limited to, providing adequate food, clothing, shelter, means of communication with those in isolation or quarantine and outside these settings, medication, and competent medical care;

     (7) Premises used for isolation or quarantine must be maintained in a safe and hygienic manner to minimize the likelihood of further transmission of infection or other harm to persons isolated and quarantined;

     (8) To the extent possible, cultural and religious beliefs should be considered in addressing the needs of individuals, and establishing and maintaining isolation or quarantine premises;

     (9) Isolation or quarantine shall not abridge the right of any person to rely exclusively on spiritual means alone through prayer to treat a communicable or possibly communicable disease in accordance with religious tenets and practices, nor shall anything in this chapter be deemed to prohibit a person so relying who is infected with a contagious or communicable disease from being isolated or quarantined in a private place of his or her own choice, provided, it is approved by the local health officer, and all laws, rules and regulations governing control, sanitation, isolation and quarantine are complied with. At his or her sole discretion, the local health officer may isolate infected individuals declining treatment for the duration of their communicable infection.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 43.20.050 (2)(d), 70.05.050, and70.05.060 . 03-05-048, § 246-100-045, filed 2/13/03, effective 2/13/03.]