COVID Guidelines

If your answers to a few of these land you in “more likely to be exposed” territory, you were exposed.

For more details about COVID exposure, see the CDC website.

Yes. Here are the current CDC guidelines for isolation.

If you are at high risk of getting very sick with COVID, talk with your health-care provider about starting treatment, even if you don’t have symptoms. If you don’t have a health-care provider, call Combat COVID at 1-877-332-6585 to find out who to talk with about treatment.

When you isolate, you’re trying to keep away from other people so you don't make them sick. That includes members of your household. Wear a high-quality, well-fitted mask if you have to be around others at home, and don't eat with them.

N95 and KN95 masks (also called respirators) are the best at protecting you from COVID. They also help protect you against flu.

• If possible, stay in a room away from other people.

• Keep the air in your home as fresh and clean as you can.

• Report your test results using this link.

  

Yes. Even if you don’t have any symptoms, you could still be contagious. Here are the current CDC guidelines for isolation.

If you are at high risk of getting very sick with COVID, talk with your health-care provider about starting treatment, even if you don’t have symptoms. If you don’t have a health-care provider, call Combat COVID at 1-877-332-6585 to find out who to talk with about treatment.

If you get symptoms at any point, start your isolation process over and follow the instructions for people with symptoms.

These two actions will do a lot to help protect the other people in your home:

• You and the people you live with can wear high-quality, well-fitting masks as much as possible when you're indoors together.

• Keep the air in your home as fresh and clean as you can.

N95 and KN95 masks (also called respirators) are the best at protecting you from COVID. They also help protect you against flu.

Here's how you can make the air in your home as clean as possible.

• Open as many windows as is possible and safe. If you can open windows on opposite sides of your home to create a cross-breeze, that's best.

• Put a box fan in a window, facing out. Seal the window around the fan. That helps pull germy air out of the home.

• If you have an exhaust fan in the bathroom or kitchen, turn it on. Make sure the windows are open if you run the fan for more than 10 minutes, so you don't pull toxic gases from the heating system into your home.

• Viruses like dry air, so keep the air in your home more humid if you can.

• Run an air cleaner with a HEPA filter and keep it right near you. You can make an inexpensive air cleaner called a Corsi-Rosenthal box using these instructions.

You need to isolate yourself for at least 5 full days, no matter what. If you had any trouble breathing while you were sick, you should isolate for a full 10 days.

Here are the current CDC guidelines for isolation.

If you get COVID symptoms within 10 days of when you tested positive, you need to start isolation again. Your new Day 0 is the first day you started feeling sick the second time around.

If you get COVID symptoms after at least 10 days have passed since you tested positive, you need to test again. Use a rapid test, not a PCR test (PCR tests can turn positive even if you only have little pieces of dead virus in your system). If you test negative, wait 48 hours and test once more.

Whenever you use a rapid test, report your result using this link — whether you test positive or negative.