Updated Reportable Diseases and Laboratory Significant Findings Changes for 2023
The end of the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) declaration for COVID-19 is May 11, 2023. Changes are needed to the List of Reportable Diseases, Emergency Illnesses and Health Conditions and the List of Reportable Laboratory Findings to ensure continuity of surveillance data and to align with federal reporting requirements. Effective May 11, 2023, pursuant to Section 19a-2a of the Connecticut General Statutes and Sections 19a-215 and 19a-36-A7 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, Manisha Juthani, MD, Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) will amend the List of Reportable Diseases, Emergency Illnesses and Health Conditions and the List of Reportable Laboratory Findings as follows:
1. Adding ‘COVID-19 Deaths’ to the List of Reportable Disease
Previously COVID-19 deaths were reportable to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) due to the ongoing PHE. With the expiration of the federal PHE, OCME will transition COVID-19 death reporting to DPH.
COVID-19 deaths shall be a Category 2 condition and must be reported electronically or by fax within 12 hours. A hospital infection preventionist entering a case in CTEDSS (where applicable) satisfies the reporting requirement. The DPH Reportable Disease Confidential Case Report Form PD-23 shall be used to collect initial information on cases where COVID-19 is certified as the cause of death. Providers should continue using CDC guidance for Certifying Deaths due to COVID-19 when evaluating if COVID-19 is the cause of death in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus. DPH will share the report with the local health department for the town where the case patient resides and will follow up with the provider as needed to collect additional information. Completed PD-23 Case Report Forms may be reported by fax to (860) 920-3131.
2. Removing ‘Negative SARS-CoV-2’ results from List of Reportable Laboratory Findings
On June 4, 2020, the US Department of Health and Human Services issued guidance requiring the reporting of positive and negative test results for SARS-CoV-2; this guidance will expire with the end of the federal PHE on May 11. Negative SARS-CoV-2 results will be removed from the List of Reportable Laboratory Findings. No change will be made to the reporting of positive SARS-CoV-2 results. Positive antigen and PCR/NAAT results will continue to be reportable. Locations testing for SARS-CoV-2 are encouraged to use electronic reporting methods to send positive results to DPH.
Healthcare providers can refer questions about COVID-19 reporting to the DPH Epidemiology and Emerging Infections Program at (860) 509-7994 or DPH.eeip@ct.gov. Questions related to electronic laboratory reporting may be directed to DPH.InformaticsLab@ct.gov.
This page last updated 05/05/2023.