When to End Isolation
An important strategy for reducing transmission of COVID-19 is to identify those with infections and instruct them to isolate while they are infectious. It is also important to identify close contacts of infected individuals and provide guidance on how to take care of themselves and prevent transmission to others.
Note that isolation guidelines are different for health care workers and those who work in clinical setting.
Day 0 = day of a positive test result (for Yale faculty, staff, and students) or the day that symptoms started (others)
| Your Circumstance |
When to End Isolation (Non-Health Care Workers) |
When to End Isolation (Health Care Workers and Those Working in Clinical Settings) |
|---|---|---|
|
You tested POSITIVE for COVID-19 and have symptoms |
At least 5 days have passed since your positive test. Return to work/class on day 6 if you have had no fever for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications and symptoms have improved. Wear a well-fitting mask for 10 days. |
At least 7 days have passed since your positive test. Return to work/class on day 8 if you have had no fever for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications and symptoms have improved. Wear a well-fitting mask for 10 days. |
|
You tested NEGATIVE for COVID-19 and have some symptoms |
If your provider still suspects that you do have COVID-19, continue to isolate and retest in 3 or more days from initial test. Otherwise, you can end isolation, and resume normal activities when you have had no fever for at least 24 hours and improvement in other symptoms. |
If your provider still suspects that you do have COVID-19, continue to isolate and retest in 3 or more days from initial test. Otherwise, you can end isolation, and resume normal activities when you have had no fever for at least 24 hours and improvement in other symptoms. |
|
You did not have symptoms but tested positive for COVID-19 |
At least 5 days have passed from the date of your positive test as long as you remain free of symptoms. Wear a well-fitting mask for 10 days. |
At least 7 days have passed from the date of your positive test as long as you remain free of symptoms. Wear a well-fitting mask for 10 days. |
A close contact is someone who was less than 6 feet away from an infected person for a total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period (for example, three separate 5-minute exposures for a total of 15 minutes). An infected person can spread the virus that causes COVID-19 starting 2 days before they have any symptoms (or, for people without symptoms, 2 days before the positive specimen collection date).
All household contacts, including roommates or suitemates are close contacts due to shared living spaces.
With your help, your close contacts can be made aware of their exposure so they can take steps to test, mask, and monitor for symptoms. Yale faculty, staff and students may access our anonymous close contact notification form to notify close contacts who have yale.edu email addresses. (You must have a netID to access the form.) For all others see this guidance from the CDC.