COVID-19: Quarantine of Household Members
With the return to school and activities for many K-12 districts, the Idaho State University Health Committee has received a number of questions from faculty, staff, and students related to the quarantine of other household members, and the impact of quarantine on their ability to come to work or attend class. To help support our campus community in understanding what to do when a household member is quarantined or ill, the guidance is summarized below.
What should you do if someone in your household (child or adult) is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, is awaiting a test result, or tests positive for COVID-19?
  • You should stay home - do not come to campus. All household members who have had close contact* should quarantine** as well.
  • Complete the COVID-19 Self-Reporting Form. After submitting, you will be contacted by a member of the ISU COVID-19 Health Committee by phone or email to discuss details regarding quarantine**, isolation, and future return to campus.
  • Contact your instructors or supervisor to inform them of the situation. 
  • If possible, have the individual who is ill/suspected COVID-19 isolate from other household members.
What should you do if someone in your household (adult or child) has had close contact* with another positive case and is in quarantine**?
  • You can continue to come to campus as long as you strictly follow all precautions (face covering use, six feet of physical distance, handwashing, etc.)
  • If your quarantined household member does start to exhibit symptoms or tests positive, you must stay home (in quarantine**) for 14 days since the last close contact* with the impacted household member. Complete the COVID-19 Self-Reporting Form at this time, and alert your instructors or supervisor of the situation.
*Close contact is defined as being within six feet of another individual, even when using face coverings, for more than 10 minutes (cumulative)
**You can find more information about quarantine recommendations and timelines at the CDC website
Additional scenarios and guidance are available online. For questions or to discuss a particular situation, please call the ISU COVID Hotline at (208) 282-2705 or email covid@health.idaho.edu.
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