The new categories or “case definitions for notification” were based on guidelines issued by the WHO on March 20. They are:

• Suspect case
• Probable case
• Confirmed case

Suspect case

The following may be considered a “suspect case” of COVID-19:

• A person with severe acute respiratory illness – fever of 38°C or higher, cough or sore throat, shortness of breath, and may even include severe pneumonia – whose cause is undetermined prior to testing for the coronavirus.
• A person with influenza-like illness – fever of 38°C or higher, and cough or sore throat – and who lives in or has traveled to an area that reported local transmission of the coronavirus during the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms.
• A person with influenza-like illness and has had contact with a confirmed or probable case (see definition of “probable case”) of COVID-19 in the two days prior to the onset of that confirmed/probable case’s illness or before that confirmed/probable case showed negative on repeat testing.
• A person with fever or cough or shortness of breath or other respiratory symptoms and is one of the following: 60 years old or older; with a comorbidity or pre-existing illness; in high-risk pregnancy; a health worker.

Probable case

A “probable case” of COVID 19 is:

• A suspect case who has been tested for COVID-19 but the results are inconclusive.
• A suspect case who has tested positive for COVID-19 but the test was not conducted in a national or subnational coronavirus reference laboratory, or an officially accredited laboratory for confirmatory testing.

Confirmed case

A person may be considered a “confirmed case” of COVID-19 only if they were tested at a national or subnational reference laboratory, or at a DOH-certified laboratory testing facility.

This is regardless of whether the person shows clinical signs and symptoms of COVID-19.

WHO defines ‘contact’

The WHO’s “case definitions for surveillance” includes all 3 categories – suspect, probable, confirmed case – and notes a 4th one: contact.

A ‘contact’ is a person who had any one of the following exposures during the two days before and the 14 days after the onset of symptoms of a probable or confirmed case:

• Face-to-face contact with a probable or confirmed case within 1 meter and for more than 15 minutes.
• Direct physical contact with probable or confirmed case.
• Direct care for a patient with probable or confirmed COVID-19 without using proper personal protective equipment.
• Other situations as indicated by local risk assessments.

In the case of confirmed asymptomatic cases, the period of contact is measured from the 2 days before the date on which the person’s testing sample was taken, and all through the succeeding 14 days.