The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revised its guidance regarding how long employees should self-quarantine at home after testing positive for COVID- 10 — from 14 to 10 days in most cases.
Specifically, the guidance says:
- Employees who test positive but never develop symptoms can end isolation after 10 days.
- Those who test positive and have moderate to mild symptoms can end isolation after 10 days if at least 24 hours have passed without a fever and other symptoms have improved.
- Employees who test positive and have severe illness may need to continue isolation for a full 20 days.
- Those who are exposed to the virus but are never tested and have no symptoms should continue to quarantine for 14 days.
In announcing these changes, the CDC stated, “Researchers have reported that people with mild to moderate COVID-19 remain infectious no longer than 10 days after their symptoms began, and those with more severe illness or those who are severely immunocompromised remain infectious no long than 20 days after their symptoms began.”
