COVID-19 hospital acquired case definition

Version 1.1

Hospital acquired COVID-19 is defined as the following as agreed by EAG and AMRIC oversight group:

• Onset of clinical features of COVID-19 7 days or more after admission should be regarded as hospital acquired COVID-19
• Onset of clinical features of COVID-19 between days 3 and 6 after admission are considered hospital acquired cases of COVID-19 if epidemiologically linked to hospital exposure
• Onset of clinical features of COVID-19 on day 1 or 2 after admission are considered community acquired unless epidemiologically linked to hospital exposure during a recent hospital admission
• If onset of clinical features cannot be defined, a case by case assessment is required taking account of the date of sampling relative to the date of admission, the ct value of the test result and epidemiological evidence of a link to hospital exposure.

Last updated: 18 May 2020