Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in a Variety of Settings Throughout Your Community

Key concepts

• Minimize the chance of exposure. The most common way to catch the virus that causes COVID-19 is from close contact with other people. Avoiding gatherings of people and practicing social distancing can help reduce the chances of exposure to the virus. Make sure to comply with any orders your state has issued about sheltering in place or staying at home.
• Promote the use of everyday preventive actions. Some common practices can lower the risk of infection. Clean your hands, cover coughs and sneezes, and follow recommendations or local or state orders for wearing masks to reduce the spread of infection.
• Protect high-risk populations. Certain groups of people have a higher risk of developing serious illness from COVID-19. To keep our families and communities safe and healthy, it is important to take steps to protect older adults, people with underlying health conditions, people facing homelessness, incarcerated or detained people, and people who work in healthcare or other critical infrastructure jobs.

Resources from CDC

CDC is supporting this critical work by providing guidance for:

Resources from other organizations

Content describing non-CDC tools on this site is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to indicate endorsement, actual or implied, of the tools. Additionally, information on this site is provided “as is,” for users to evaluate and make their own determination as to their effectiveness.

Other federal agencies

Several other federal agencies are also supporting this critical effort by providing resources:

• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid: COVID partner toolkitexternal icon
• Occupational Safety and Health Administrationexternal icon
  List of resources and guidance for workers and employers in diverse fields/settings

Private sector, non-governmental organizations and academia

Various other organizations are also supporting this critical effort by providing training and other resources:

• American College of Emergency Physicians COVID-19 Field guideexternal icon
• American Academy of Pediatrics Telehealth Payer Policy in Response to COVID-19external icon
• Society for Critical Care Medicine – COVID-19 Resource Centerexternal icon
  Includes literature and training.
• COVID-19 Resource Pageexternal icon
  Source: Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America
• Hospital Epi Trainingexternal icon
  Source: Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America
• Rapid Response Programexternal icon
  Source: Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America
• Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology: COVID-19 Pageexternal icon