Infected or Exposed to COVID-19?

You isolate when you have been infected with the virus, even if you don’t have symptoms.

You quarantine when you might have been exposed to the virus and may or may not have been infected.

Close contact is:

• Being within 6 feet of a person who has COVID-19 for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period, beginning two days before symptoms developed or two days before taking a COVID-19 test, if asymptomatic.
• Having direct exposure to respiratory secretions from a person who has COVID-19. For example, being coughed or sneezed on, sharing a drinking glass or utensils, or kissing.
• Providing care for a person who has COVID-19
• Living with a person who has COVID-19.

Note: In indoor K-12 settings, a student who is within 3 to 6 feet of an infected student is not considered a close contact as long as both students are wearing masks and the school has other prevention strategies in place. See Guidance for Parents of School-aged Children.

Isolate & Follow Prevention Guidance

Everyone, regardless of vaccination status:

• Day 1 to 5:
  • Stay home and away from others.
• Day 6 to 10:
  • If you have no symptoms or your symptoms are resolving, you can leave your house. Continue to wear a well-fitting mask to reduce any risk of infecting others. See additional guidance below.
  • If you have a fever, continue to stay home until 24 hours after your fever resolves.

If you do not meet all these criteria, remain in isolation until all these conditions are met up to a full 10 days after your first day of symptoms or the day of your test if you have no symptoms.

If you have access to a test and want to test, use an antigen test towards the end of the 5-day isolation period. Collect the test sample only if you are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and your other symptoms have improved.  (Loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation.)

If your test result is positive, you should continue to isolate until day 10. 

See the VDH Isolation Calculator for more guidance about when your isolation may end.

I am a close contact of someone who has COVID-19 and am up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations. That means I:

• Am 12 years or older and have received all recommended vaccine doses including a booster dose 

OR

• Am 5-11 years old and am 2 weeks or more after receiving the 2-dose primary series of COVID-19 vaccine

OR

• Received a second dose (and an additional dose if immunocompromised) of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines within the last 5 months

OR

• Received a first dose of J&J vaccine within the last 2 months

OR

• Have had COVID-19 within the last 90 days confirmed by a positive viral test

Follow prevention guidance

Day 1 to 10

• Wear a well-fitting mask around others. See additional guidance below.
• Test on day 5, if possible.
• If you develop symptoms, get a test and stay home. 
• If you test positive for COVID-19 during this 10-day period, follow the isolation guidance above.

See the VDH Quarantine Calculator for more guidance.

I am a close contact of someone who has COVID-19 and and am NOT up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations. That means I:

• Am ages 12 or older and received two doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines more than 5 months ago and are not boosted

OR

• Received one dose of the J&J vaccine more than 2 months ago and are not boosted

OR

• Am not vaccinated or are partially vaccinated

Day 1 to 5

• Stay home and away from others.
• Test on day 5, if possible. If you test positive for COVID-19, follow the isolation guidance above.

Day 6 to 10

• Continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others. See additional guidance below.
• If you develop symptoms get a test and stay home. If you test positive for COVID-19, follow the isolation guidance above.

See the VDH Quarantine Calculator for more guidance about when your quarantine may end.