Rule 511-9-1-.02 - Definitions(1)"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Department of Public Health.(2)"Communicable Disease" means an infectious disease that can be transmitted from one individual to another.(3)"County Board of Health" means a county board of health organized pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 31-3-1et seq.(4)"Department" means the Department of Public Health.(5)"District Health Director" means a physician who has been appointed and approved in accordance with O.C.G.A. § 31-3-15 to act as the chief executive officer of the county boards of health within a Public Health District.(6)"Epidemic" means an outbreak, or rise in incidence rate, or spread of incidence of a contagious or infectious disease so as to constitute a clear and present risk of infection to the public at large or to congregated groups thereof.(7)"Isolate" means to separate, confine, or restrict the movement of persons who are infected with a communicable disease.(8)"Pandemic" means an epidemic occurring worldwide, or over a very wide area, crossing international boundaries and usually affecting a large number of people. (9)"Public Health District" means the geographical districts established in accordance with O.C.G.A. § 31-3-15.(10)"Public health emergency" means a declaration of emergency by the Governor due to the occurrence or imminent threat of an illness or health condition that is believed to be caused by bioterrorism, or the appearance of a novel, previously controlled, or eradicated infectious agent or biological toxin, which poses a high probability of a large number of deaths in the affected population, a large number of serious or long-term disabilities in the affected population, or widespread exposure to an infectious or toxic agent that poses a significant risk of future harm to a large number of people in the affected population.(11)"Pandemic influenza emergency" means a declaration of emergency by the Governor following a declaration by the World Health Organization of at least a Phase 5 Pandemic Alert for influenza occurring in the United States or the State of Georgia, or a declaration by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of at least a Category 2 Pandemic Severity Index for influenza occurring in the United States or the State of Georgia.(12)"Quarantine" means to separate, confine, or restrict the movement of persons who were or may have been exposed to a communicable disease.(13)"Social Distancing" means the measures taken whether voluntarily or under an administrative or judicial order to limit or prevent the spread of disease or exposure to toxic conditions. Such measures may include exclusion policies, isolation, quarantine, curfew, partial or complete closure of facilities including places of business, whether public or private, and restriction of movement, including the closing of borders.(14)"State of Emergency" means the formal declaration of a state of emergency by the Governor in accordance with Code Section 38-3-51(a).(15)"Surveillance" means the continuous, systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of health-related data needed for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice. Surveillance may include monitoring the health of individuals or groups, and may include mandatory reporting by health care providers and others.Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 511-9-1-.02
O.C.G.A. §§ 31-2A-4, 31-3-1, 31-3-15, 31-12-2.1, 31-12-3, 31-12-4, 38-3-3, 38-3-51.
Original Rule entitled "Definitions" adopted. F. Feb. 2, 2016; eff. Feb. 22, 2016.