With COVID cases and other respiratory viruses on the rise, it’s important to know what to do if you or someone you know tests positive. How long is a person contagious, and what steps should be taken to protect yourself and others?
In Illinois, 44 counties are at an elevated level for COVID-19 hospitalizations, according to the state’s Department of Public Health. Knowing when it is safe to stop isolating is key, and the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have not changed since May.
The CDC recommends that anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or suspects they have it should isolate from others for at least five days. This includes those in your home, whether or not they have been vaccinated. To calculate the number of days you should isolate, the CDC has provided the following guide:
If you had no symptoms:
- Day 0 is the day you were tested (not the day you received your positive test result).
- Day 1 is the first full day following the day you were tested.
- If you develop symptoms within 10 days of when you were tested, the clock restarts at day 0 on the day of symptom onset.
If you had symptoms:
- Day 0 of isolation is the day of symptom onset, regardless of when you tested positive.
- Day 1 is the first full day after the day your symptoms started.
If you had no symptoms, you can end your isolation after day five. For those who experience symptoms, the timeline may be different. Those with mild symptoms can end isolation after day five, assuming they are fever-free for 24 hours without using fever-reducing medication. Those with more moderate or severe illnesses must wait until day 10 before ending isolation. Those with mild symptoms that are not improving should wait until their symptoms are improving and they are fever-free for 24 hours.
Regardless of when you are able to end isolation, the CDC recommends continuing to avoid people and wear a mask through at least day 11.
Before determining your isolation time, you’ll need to take a COVID test. Those with symptoms should get tested as soon as possible, though a negative at-home test may not be as reliable. If your antigen test is negative, take another antigen test after 48 hours or take a PCR test as soon as you can. Those who may have been exposed but have no symptoms should wait five days after exposure to take a test.
If you have any unused tests in your home, be sure to check the expiration date. The FDA has extended the expiration dates of many at-home test products, so check the FDA website for expiration dates for each product.
Staying informed and taking the steps to protect yourself and others is key to preventing the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses. Knowing when to isolate and when it is safe to end isolation can help protect yourself and those around you.
