UPDATE: On Monday, US health officials reduced the period Americans must stay in isolation from 10 to five days after contracting the coronavirus, as well as the time close contacts must quarantine.
What should you do if you or someone you were with tests positive for coronavirus? With COVID cases continuing to climb after many people congregated for the holidays over the weekend, what should you do if you or someone you were with tests positive for coronavirus?
As relatives and friends gather to celebrate Christmas, New Year's, and other holidays, many are seeking information on how long to quarantine, how long they may be contagious, when to be tested after exposure, and more.
Here's what to do if you test positive or think you've been exposed to someone who has, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
How Soon Might Symptoms Appear?
COVID symptoms can occur anywhere from two to 14 days after a person is infected with the virus, according to the CDC.
COVID should be evaluated for everyone who has symptoms.
When Should You Get a COVID Test?
According to the most recent guideline from the CDC, those who have been completely vaccinated and are exposed to someone who has COVID-19 should get tested between five and seven days following their exposure, whereas earlier advice had been between three and five days.
Those who acquire symptoms should be tested as soon as they appear, but if a test is negative and symptoms linger, a follow-up test may be required a few days later, especially if they utilize at-home test kits.
"So, if someone is experiencing symptoms and receives a negative test, one must consider the severity of the symptoms, correct? We also don't want you to perform a home test if you're having severe symptoms "Dr. Nimmi Rajagopal, associate head of Cook County Health's Department of Family and Community Medicine, agreed. "We recommend that you contact your doctor's office to confirm that they have an opinion on the matter since there are other conditions, such as the flu, that can mirror or have similar symptoms. However, if your symptoms are minor and persisting and you do the [at-home] test and it comes back negative, you should take the measures and retest in three to five days. That's why the majority of these kits include two tests."
When is Someone With COVID Contagious?
If a person has COVID-19, they are infectious two days before they acquire symptoms, or two days before their positive test date if they have no symptoms.
How Long Should you Quarantine or Isolate?
First and foremost, anyone who suspects they have come into contact with someone who has COVID and has not been vaccinated should isolate themselves. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, anyone who tests positive, regardless of immunization status, must isolate.
Here's how it works:
Quarantine
Those who have been within 6 feet of someone with COVID for at least 15 minutes in a 24-hour period should stay at home for 14 days and check for symptoms. Those quarantining should keep as far away from their loved ones as possible, especially those who are at a higher risk of acquiring more serious COVID sickness.
Isolate immediately and consult a healthcare physician if symptoms emerge during the quarantine window, according to the CDC's advice.
According to the CDC, those who are completely vaccinated do not need to quarantine, but they should be examined five to seven days after exposure, regardless of symptoms.
Local health officials, on the other hand, have the ultimate say on how long a quarantine should extend. Testing can also play a role.
Those who travel to or from specific regions of the country without being vaccinated, for example, must quarantine upon arrival in Chicago, but the amount of time they must quarantine depends on whether they are tested for COVID.
According to the city's travel advisory, people traveling from the specified alert states must:
- Stay home and self-quarantine for a full week after getting tested with a viral test 3-5 days after your trip.
- Stay at home and self-quarantine for the full 7 days, even if you test negative.
- If your test comes back positive, isolate yourself to avoid infecting others.
- If you are not tested, return home and isolate yourself for 10 days following your trip.
Illinois' health department states that:
- The quarantine can be lifted without testing after Day 10 if no symptoms are detected throughout the daily monitoring period.
- If an RT (Reverse Transcriptase)-PCR test is negative and no symptoms are detected throughout the daily monitoring period, the quarantine can be lifted after Day 7. The earliest a material might be collected and examined is on Day 6, with quarantine ending no sooner than Day 8. However, this alternative is not suggested for youngsters in daycares or elementary and secondary schools.
"In congregate living settings with vulnerable populations, such as skilled care and correctional facilities, IDPH recommends the full 14-day quarantine period rather than the shortened options described above due to the risk of severe illness and congregate transmission," the Illinois Department of Public Health states on its website.
The guidance provided to schools is diverse. The IDPH recommends the following in certain situations:
- Any confirmed or suspected case student or school employees should stay at home for at least 10 days from the start of symptoms if symptomatic or date of the positive test if asymptomatic, or as otherwise advised by the school's local health authority.
- Any unvaccinated student or school personnel who is a close contact must stay at home for at least 14 days or as directed by the school's local health authority, which may recommend options such as the exclusion for 10 days without testing but with daily symptom checks or seven days with a negative test result on day 6. As an alternative to exclusion, schools may allow asymptomatic close contacts to attend school, extracurricular activities, or any other school-sponsored events if both the confirmed case or probable cause and the contact were masked for the duration of the exposure and the contact tested negative on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 after the exposure. Close contacts are not those who have been completely vaccinated or who have tested positive for COVID-19 during the last 90 days and are now asymptomatic.
- Any kid or school employees who display COVID-19 symptoms, as described by the CDC, should stay at home until they test negative for COVID-19, or for a minimum of 10 days until they are fever-free for 24 hours and have stopped diarrhea or vomiting.
Isolation
People who test positive for COVID should stay at home until it is safe to be around others, including family members, according to the CDC.
If feasible, health experts recommend creating a "sick room" or place for people who are affected, as well as a separate restroom.
So, how do you figure out how long you'll be in isolation for ten days?
"Day 0" is the first day of symptoms, according to the CDC. That is, Day 1 is the first full day following the onset of your symptoms.
Day 0 is the day of the positive test for people who test positive for COVID but have no symptoms. Those who acquire symptoms after testing positive, on the other hand, must recalculate their calculations, with day 0 being the first day of symptoms.
When Should You Call a Doctor?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises people who have or may have COVID-19 to look for emergency warning signs and get medical help right away if they encounter symptoms such as:
- Trouble breathing
- Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
- New confusion
- Inability to wake or stay awake
- Pale, gray, or blue-colored skin, lips, or nail beds, depending on skin tone
The CDC notes that "this list does not include all potential symptoms." "If you have any additional severe or troubling symptoms, please contact your healthcare professional."
You can also tell the operator if you think you or someone you care about has COVID.
What If You Test Positive Using an At-Home Test?
Those who test positive with an at-home test are advised to follow the most recent CDC recommendations and inform their healthcare professional, who is in charge of reporting test results to the state health department.
Dr. Allison Arwady, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, has stated that this approach is unlikely to occur for all tests.
"Realistically, none of those downsides are being recorded," Arwady added. "We're not counting, since it's a lie that we've ever tallied every COVID test," she says.
She went on to say that while many home tests are not reported, positive findings are most likely given to health care practitioners and subsequently to health departments.
When Can You Be Around Other People After Having COVID?
You can be around people if you have symptoms, according to the CDC, if you match the following criteria:
- 10 days since symptoms first appeared and
- 24 hours with no fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and
- Other symptoms of COVID-19 are improving (note that loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and do not count among these symptoms)
These guidelines, according to the CDC, do not apply to people with severe COVID or impaired immune systems.
If you tested positive but didn't have any symptoms during your seclusion, the CDC recommends:
- After 10 days have elapsed since you got a positive COVID-19 viral test, you can be around people (based on the date you were tested)
Staying at home for up to 20 days after symptoms first occurred is recommended for patients with serious diseases or compromised immune systems, according to the CDC, although persons in this category should see their healthcare physician first.
According to the CDC's website, "those with compromised immune systems may require testing to decide when they may be around others." "For further information, speak with your healthcare practitioner."
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