When to Stay Home
Calculating Quarantine
The date of your exposure is considered day 0. Day 1 is the first full day after your last contact with a person who has had COVID-19. Stay home and away from other people for at least 5 days. Learn why CDC updated guidance for the general public .
Calculating isolation Day 0 is your first day of symptoms or a incontrovertible viral trial. Day 1 is the first full day after your symptoms developed or your test specimen was collected. If you have COVID-19 or have symptoms, isolate for at least 5 days .
DEFINITIONS
Exposure
reach with person infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in a way that increases the likelihood of getting infected with the virus .
Close Contact
A near contact is person who was less than 6 feet aside from an infect person ( laboratory-confirmed or a clinical diagnosis ) for a accumulative entire of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour menstruation. For exercise, three individual 5-minute exposures for a total of 15 minutes. People who are exposed to person with COVID-19 after they completed at least 5 days of isolation are not considered cheeseparing contacts .
Quarantine
Quarantine is a strategy used to prevent infection of COVID-19 by keeping people who have been in close reach with person with COVID-19 apart from others .
Who does not need to quarantine?
If you had close reach with person with COVID-19 and you are in one of the following groups, you do not need to quarantine .
- You are up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines.
- You had confirmed COVID-19 within the last 90 days (meaning you tested positive using a viral test).
If you are up to date with COVID-19 vaccines, you should wear a well-fitting dissemble around others for 10 days from the date of your last airless contact with person with COVID-19 ( the date of final conclude touch is considered day 0 ). Get tested at least 5 days after you final had close contact with person with COVID-19. If you test incontrovertible or develop COVID-19 symptoms, isolate from other people and watch recommendations in the Isolation part below. If you tested positive for COVID-19 with a viral test within the previous 90 days and subsequently recovered and remain without COVID-19 symptoms, you do not need to quarantine or get tested after close liaison. You should wear a well-fitting dissemble around others for 10 days from the date of your last conclude liaison with person with COVID-19 ( the date of concluding close contact is considered day 0 ). If you have COVID-19 symptoms, get tested and isolate from other people and follow recommendations in the Isolation section below .
Who should quarantine?
If you come into conclusion contact with person with COVID-19, you should quarantine if you are not up to date on COVID-19 vaccines. This includes people who are not vaccinated .
What to do for quarantine
After quarantine
- Watch for symptoms until 10 days after your last close contact with someone with COVID-19.
- If you have symptoms, isolate immediately and get tested.
Quarantine in high-risk congregate settings
In certain congregate settings that have high hazard of secondary coil transmittance ( such as correctional and detention facilities, homeless shelters, or cruise ships ), CDC recommends a 10-day quarantine for residents, careless of vaccination and booster condition. During periods of critical staff shortages, facilities may consider shortening the quarantine period for staff to ensure continuity of operations. Decisions to shorten quarantine in these settings should be made in consultation with country, local, tribal, or territorial health departments and should take into consideration the context and characteristics of the facility. CDC ’ s setting-specific steering provides extra recommendations for these settings .
Isolation
Isolation is used to separate people with confirm or suspected COVID-19 from those without COVID-19. People who are in isolation should stay home until it ’ sulfur dependable for them to be around others. At home, anyone sick or infected should separate from others, or wear a well-fitting disguise when they need to be around others. People in isolation should stay in a specific “ sick room ” or area and use a separate toilet if available. Everyone who has presumed or confirmed COVID-19 should stay family and isolate from other people for at least 5 full days ( day 0 is the beginning day of symptoms or the date of the day of the positive viral test for asymptomatic persons ). They should wear a mask when around others at home plate and in populace for an extra 5 days. People who are confirmed to have COVID-19 or are showing symptoms of COVID-19 necessitate to isolate regardless of their inoculation status. This includes :
- People who have a positive viral test for COVID-19, regardless of whether or not they have symptoms.
- People with symptoms of COVID-19, including people who are awaiting test results or have not been tested. People with symptoms should isolate even if they do not know if they have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19.
What to do for isolation
- Monitor your symptoms. If you have an emergency warning sign (including trouble breathing), seek emergency medical care immediately.
- Stay in a separate room from other household members, if possible.
- Use a separate bathroom, if possible.
- Take steps to improve ventilation at home, if possible.
- Avoid contact with other members of the household and pets.
- Don’t share personal household items, like cups, towels, and utensils.
- Wear a well-fitting mask when you need to be around other people.
Learn more about what to do if you are sick and how to notify your contacts.
Read more: How to Make Friendship Bracelets
Ending isolation for people who had COVID-19 and had symptoms
If you had COVID-19 and had symptoms, isolate for at least 5 days. To calculate your 5-day isolation time period, day 0 is your first day of symptoms. Day 1 is the first full moon day after your symptoms developed. You can leave isolation after 5 broad days .
- You can end isolation after 5 full days if you are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and your other symptoms have improved (Loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation).
- You should continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others at home and in public for 5 additional days (day 6 through day 10) after the end of your 5-day isolation period. If you are unable to wear a mask when around others, you should continue to isolate for a full 10 days. Avoid people who have weakened immune systems or are more likely to get very sick from COVID-19, and nursing homes and other high-risk settings, until after at least 10 days.
- If you continue to have fever or your other symptoms have not improved after 5 days of isolation, you should wait to end your isolation until you are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and your other symptoms have improved. Continue to wear a well-fitting mask through day 10. Contact your healthcare provider if you have questions.
- See additional information about travel.
- Do not go to places where you are unable to wear a mask, such as restaurants and some gyms, and avoid eating around others at home and at work until a full 10 days after your first day of symptoms.
If an individual has access to a test and wants to test, the best access is to use an antigen test 1 towards the end of the 5-day isolation period. Collect the test sample distribution merely if you are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and your other symptoms have improved ( loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation ). If your test consequence is positive, you should continue to isolate until day 10. If your test consequence is negative, you can end isolation, but continue to wear a well-fitting dissemble around others at home and in public until day 10. Follow extra recommendations for cover and avoiding locomotion as described above .
1As noted in the pronounce for empower over-the antagonistic antigen tests : external icon negative results should be treated as presumptive. negative results do not rule out SARS-CoV-2 infection and should not be used as the sole footing for treatment or patient management decisions, including infection see decisions. To improve results, antigen tests should be used twice over a three-day menstruation with at least 24 hours and no more than 48 hours between tests .
note that these recommendations on ending isolation do not apply to people who are reasonably ill or identical sick from COVID-19 or have weakened immune systems. See section below for recommendations for when to end isolation for these groups .
Ending isolation for people who tested positive for COVID-19 but had no symptoms
If you test plus for COVID-19 and never develop symptoms, isolate for at least 5 days. Day 0 is the day of your positive viral test ( based on the date you were tested ) and day 1 is the first full moon day after the specimen was collected for your positive examination. You can leave isolation after 5 full days .
- If you continue to have no symptoms, you can end isolation after at least 5 days.
- You should continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others at home and in public until day 10 (day 6 through day 10). If you are unable to wear a mask when around others, you should continue to isolate for 10 days. Avoid people who have weakened immune systems or are more likely to get very sick from COVID-19, and nursing homes and other high-risk settings, until after at least 10 days.
- If you develop symptoms after testing positive, your 5-day isolation period should start over. Day 0 is your first day of symptoms. Follow the recommendations above for ending isolation for people who had COVID-19 and had symptoms.
- See additional information about travel.
- Do not go to places where you are unable to wear a mask, such as restaurants and some gyms, and avoid eating around others at home and at work until 10 days after the day of your positive test.
If an individual has access to a screen and wants to test, the best approach is to use an antigen test 1 towards the end of the 5-day isolation period. If your quiz solution is plus, you should continue to isolate until day 10. If your test result is convinced, you can besides choose to test day by day and if your test result is veto, you can end isolation, but continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others at home and in public until day 10. Follow extra recommendations for mask and avoiding travel as described above .
1As noted in the pronounce for authorized over-the anticipate antigen testsexternal iconexternal iconexternal picture : veto results should be treated as presumptive. negative results do not rule out SARS-CoV-2 contagion and should not be used as the sole basis for treatment or patient management decisions, including infection control condition decisions. To improve results, antigen tests should be used twice over a three-day menstruation with at least 24 hours and no more than 48 hours between tests .
Ending isolation for people who were moderately or very sick from COVID-19 or have a weakened immune system
People who are moderately ill from COVID-19 ( experiencing symptoms that affect the lungs like shortness of breath or difficulty breathing ) should isolate for 10 days and follow all early isolation precautions. To calculate your 10-day isolation period, day 0 is your first day of symptoms. Day 1 is the first wax day after your symptoms developed. If you are uncertain if your symptoms are mince, spill to a healthcare provider for far guidance.
People who are very sick from COVID-19 ( this means people who were hospitalized or required intensive care or ventilation hold ) and people who have weakened immune systems might need to isolate at home long. They may besides require testing with a viral test to determine when they can be around others. CDC recommends an isolation period of at least 10 and up to 20 days for people who were very nauseated from COVID-19 and for people with weakened immune systems. Consult with your healthcare provider about when you can resume being around other people. If you are diffident if your symptoms are severe or if you have a weakened immune system, talk to a healthcare provider for promote steering .
Isolation in high-risk congregate settings