What should you do if you test positive for COVID-19? Here are the latest guidelines

As health experts learn more about the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 vaccines, advice for people who test positive for the disease has evolved.

Federal health officials say the precautions people should take if they are infected with COVID-19 depend on their symptoms and vaccination status. Here’s what you need to know.

Quarantine versus isolation

Whether you need to quarantine or self-isolate depends on your test status, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Quarantine refers to the precautions people take when they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 and who could get sick. People in quarantine should stay home and wear a mask around others while monitoring their symptoms.

Isolation is keeping someone who is positive for COVID-19 away from people who are not sick. People in isolation should stay home and, if possible, use a separate bedroom and bathroom from people in their home who are not sick.

Who should quarantine?

Unvaccinated, partially vaccinated and fully vaccinated adults who have not received a booster should be quarantined if they have close contact with someone who has COVID-19. You have been in close contact with a COVID-19 positive person if you were within 6 feet of the person for at least 15 minutes.

People in these groups should stay home and away from others for at least five days from the date of exposure and monitor their symptoms for 10 days. The day of exposure counts as day 0, according to the CDC.

If you don’t develop symptoms, you should take a COVID-19 test on the fifth day.

If the test is negative, you can leave your home but you must continue to wear a mask around others until the 10th day. The same guidelines apply if you have no symptoms and cannot get tested.

If the test is positive and you have no symptoms, you should self-isolate for at least five days from the date of the test.

If you develop symptoms at any time, you should get tested and follow isolation guidelines.

If you cannot quarantine yourself, you must wear a mask around others for 10 days after the exposure date.

Who doesn’t have to quarantine?

Fully vaccinated and boosted adults, fully vaccinated children between the ages of 5 and 17, and people who have had a COVID-19 infection in the past 90 days do not need to quarantine after close contact, according to the CDC.

People in these groups must wear a mask around others for 10 days after the date of contact. On the fifth day, they should get tested. People who have tested positive in the past 90 days do not need to be tested, as long as they do not have symptoms.

If you test positive or show symptoms at any time, you should follow isolation guidelines.

Isolation instructions

People who test positive for COVID-19 or show symptoms of the disease should self-isolate, according to federal health officials.

When you should stop self-isolating depends on your symptoms. Day 0 is the date your symptoms start or the date you test positive if you have no symptoms.

If you have symptoms of COVID-19, you can stop self-isolating after five full days as long as you are fever-free for 24 hours without fever medication and other symptoms have improved. You should wear a mask around others for another five days.

If you have symptoms of COVID-19 but do not meet the above criteria on day five, wait until you meet the criteria to stop self-isolating.

People with COVID-19 who do not develop symptoms can end isolation after five days, but must wear a mask around others until day 10. If you develop symptoms at any time, the five-day isolation period begins again.

The CDC says if you want to get tested at the end of your isolation period and have access to testing, use a rapid COVID-19 test. If the test is positive, self-isolate until day 10. If negative, you should always wear a mask around other people until day 10.

Some people are not included in the shorter isolation guidelines. For example, the five-day isolation guidelines do not apply to children under the age of 2, people with moderate or severe illness (people who are hospitalized or have low blood oxygen levels during their disease) and immunocompromised people.

People in these groups should consult a health care provider about when to end isolation.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency