Quarantine If You Might Be Sick
Stay home if you might have been exposed to COVID-19
Updated July 7, 2020
Quarantine is used to keep someone who might have been exposed to COVID-19 away from others. Quarantine helps prevent spread of disease that can occur before a person knows they are sick or if they are infected with the virus without feeling symptoms. People in quarantine should stay home, separate themselves from others, monitor their health, and follow directions from their state or local health department.
What’s the difference between quarantine and isolation? Quarantine keeps someone who might have been exposed to the virus away from others.
Isolation separates people who are infected with the virus away from people who are not infected.
Who needs to quarantine?
Anyone who has been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19.
This includes people who previously had COVID-19 and people who have taken a serologic (antibody) test and have antibodies to the virus.
