CDC Releases New COVID-19 Quarantine Guidelines

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This week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new quarantine guidelines for people who may have been exposed to someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19. 

“Anyone who has been in close contact, within six feet for 15 minutes or longer, with someone who has COVID-19, and has not tested positive for COVID-19 themselves in the past three months, should quarantine themselves away from other people,” according to a news release from Lewis County Public Health and Social Services

The CDC is also continuing to recommend exposed persons quarantine for 14 days after their last contact with a person who has COVID-19. 

However, the new guidelines add two options — a person can end quarantine after 10 days without testing if they have no symptoms, and a person who has been exposed can end quarantine after seven days if they’ve had a negative test. 



A person should get tested within 48 hours before ending quarantine, the CDC advises. 

“After stopping quarantine, you should still watch for symptoms until 14 days after exposure. If you develop symptoms, you need to get tested and isolate to avoid infecting others,” according to the public health news release. “These new recommendations are meant to balance reduced burden on people against a small possibility of spreading the virus.”