Stay home and away from others:
- If you have been around someone with COVID-19, stay home and away from others for 14 days ( self-quarantine ) after your last contact with that person and monitor your health, espcially people who are higher risk for getting very sick from COVID-19. This is the best way to protect yourself and others.
- If you have a fever, cough or other symptoms of COVID-19, stay home and away from others and schedule testing immediately.
- For COVID-19, a close contact is anyone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for a total of 15 minutes or more. An infected person can spread COVID-19 starting from 48 hours (or 2 days) before the person has any symptoms or tests positive for COVID-19.
Monitor your health:
- Watch for fever, cough, shortness of breath, or other symptoms of COVID-19 . Remember, symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to COVID-19.
Answer the phone call from the health department:
- Discussions with health department staff are confidential. This means that your personal and medical information will be kept private and only shared with those who may need to know, like your health care provider.
- Your name will not be shared with those you came in contact with. The health department will only notify people you were in close contact with (within 6 feet for a total of 15 minutes or more) that they might have been exposed to COVID-19.
Self-Quarantine:
Reducing quarantine time:
- You remain asymptomatic 10 days after exposure OR 7 days after exposure AND receive a negative PCR test result. (test must occur on day 5 or later)
After stopping quarantine you should:
- Watch for symptoms until 14 days after exposure.
- If you have symptoms, immediately self-isolate and contact your local public health authority or healthcare provider.
- Wear a mask, stay at least 6 feet from others, wash your hands, avoid crowds, and take other steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 .
****The CDC continues to endorse quarantine for 14 days and recognizes that any quarantine shorter than 14 days balances reduced burden against a small possibility of spreading the virus. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/quarantine.html ****