Find out long you need to spend in quarantine or isolation based on the CDC’s latest guidelines. With so many changing guidelines recently, it’s tough to keep track of when to isolate or quarantine — and for how long you should stay away from others. Now, a new tool from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will make the process much easier.
The tool, called the COVID-19 Quarantine and Isolation Calculator, takes information about when you were exposed to COVID-19, any symptoms you might have and your vaccination status to provide the appropriate recommendations for your individual situation. Remember that you may need to quarantine when you’ve been exposed to someone with COVID-19, but isolation is reserved for those who have a confirmed case.
When to quarantine
For people who are up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccines (meaning they received a full initial series and one booster dose) and those who had the infection within the past 90 days, quarantine isn’t necessary after an exposure unless they have noticeable coronavirus symptoms, according to the latest guidelines.
People who aren’t up-to-date on their vaccinations should quarantine from others for at least five days after close contact with someone who has COVID-19. During that time, they should wear a mask if they need to be around other people. They also should not travel until 10 days after their exposure.
Everyone, regardless of vaccination status and whether or not they have symptoms, should take a COVID-19 test at least five days after their exposure, and they should continue to wear a mask and monitor themselves for 10 days. If they develop symptoms, they should start isolating themselves immediately, the CDC says.
When to isolate
People who’ve been exposed to COVID-19 and develop any symptoms of the infection should get tested and go into isolation until they know the results, the CDC says. If they test positive for COVID-19, they will need to isolate for at least five days, with day one being the first full day after they had symptoms or got tested. After five days, if they never developed symptoms or they no longer have symptoms and have been without a fever for at least 24 hours, they may be able to end their isolation.
But, if they still have symptoms on day five (or they continue to test positive on a rapid COVID-19 test), they should keep isolating for the full 10 days. Either way, they should keep wearing a mask when around other people for the full 10 days.
If all of these guidelines are confusing, that’s understandable. And you can use the new CDC calculator to help figure out what makes the most sense for your situation.
CDC removes Vermont counties from ‘high’ Covid level category
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention removed three Vermont counties from its “high” Covid-19 community level category in its latest data update on Thursday evening. Two of the three counties that were in the “high” category last week, Washington and Essex, were in the “medium” category as of Thursday, the CDC reported. The rest of the state was in the “low” category.
The CDC’s “community levels” rubric combines several different metrics — including the recent case rate, hospitalizations and hospital capacity — to assess the overall Covid risk within a county.
The CDC recommends that individuals in high transmission counties wear masks regardless of vaccination status, among other actions, while people in medium transmission counties should consider precautions if they are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe disease.
The agency also released some updated data on wastewater surveillance testing. The sewershed in Springfield reported a 187% increase in Covid viral samples over the past 15 days, while two other locations in St. Albans and Winooski did not report their sampling data to the CDC.
The city of Burlington, releasing its wastewater data separately, reported a sharp increase in viral samples at its East Plant in the past week but a smaller increase at its North Plant and a slight decline at its Main Plant.