If You Are Sick or Exposed to COVID-19

Updated August 29, 2022

If you feel sick or you have tested positive for COVID-19, taking care of your health is the most important action you can take. Talk to your health care provider as soon as possible about potential treatment options.

On this page:

If you test positive for COVID-19

  • Take care of your health. Talk to your health care provider as soon as possible to discuss potential treatment options.
  • Stay home for at least 5 days and isolate from others.
  • Tell your close contacts they have been exposed.
  • Wear a well-fitted mask if you must be around others in your home.
  • Monitor your symptoms. Get emergency medical care immediately for emergency warning signs.
  • Continue to isolate after day 5 if you have a fever or symptoms have not improved

After 5 days

If you have not had a fever for 24 hours and symptoms are improving, you can leave isolation after 5 full days, on day 6. Take these steps for 5 more days:

  • Wear a well-fitted mask around others.
  • Do not go to places where you are unable to wear a mask.
  • Avoid travel.
  • Avoid being around people who are at high risk.

If you have been exposed to COVID-19

Get tested on day 5 or later after you were exposed. Take these steps for 10 full days after you were last exposed to the virus:

  • Wear a well-fitted mask around others.
  • Do not go to places where you are unable to wear a mask.
  • Avoid travel.
  • Avoid being around people who are at high risk.
  • If you develop symptoms, isolate immediately and get tested as soon as possible.

Definitions

  • Close contact: Someone who was less than 6 feet away from an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period (for example, three individual 5-minute exposures for a total of 15 minutes). An infected person can spread COVID-19 starting 2 days before they have any symptoms (or, for asymptomatic people, 2 days before the positive specimen collection date).
  • Isolation: A strategy used to separate people with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 from those without COVID-19. To calculate your isolation period: Day 0 is your first day of symptoms or for those who are asymptomatic, the day you tested (not when you received results). Day 1 is the first full day after your symptoms developed or your test specimen was collected.
  • Quarantine: A strategy used to prevent transmission of COVID-19 by keeping people who have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19 apart from others. To calculate your quarantine period: 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.
  • Up-to-date: A person has received all recommended COVID-19 vaccines, including any booster dose(s) when eligible.
  • Well-fitted mask: A mask that fits snugly over your nose, mouth, and chin. No air should leak around the edges of the mask.

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