How should you practice social distancing?
- Reduce the number of people you are around – the fewer, the better, but especially avoid groups.
- Stay at least 6 feet away from people not in your household.
- Try to get supplies you need delivered instead of going out.
- Ask that deliveries be left outside your door instead of accepting them in person.
- If you do have to go to the store, choose a time when it is not crowded, avoid touching your face, and wash your hands or use hand sanitizer as soon as you leave.
- If you do essential work (thank you!), travel there and back in ways that avoid contact with others, maintain 6 feet of distance with your coworkers and customers/clients, avoid touching your face, and wash your hands (or use hand sanitizer) frequently.
- Call people on the phone instead of visiting them in person.
How should you protect yourself and others in the home from COVID-19 infection?
- Wash your hands often with soap and water, or use hand sanitizer.
- Try to not touch your eyes, nose, or mouth if you haven’t washed your hands.
- Try to stay away from people who are sick.
- If you are sick, stay home and try to stay away from other people.
- Always cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve when you cough or sneeze.
- Using a mask is only recommended for someone who could have or is confirmed to have COVID-19 and their caretakers.
- Clean surfaces that people touch often like doorknobs, counters, phones, or bathroom faucets.
- Try to avoid touching commonly touched objects like elevator buttons or handrails. Wash your hands with soap and water or use hand sanitizer immediately after touching these objects.
What is the difference between isolation and quarantine?
Like social distancing, isolation and quarantine protect the public from exposure to contagious diseases, like COVID-19 coronavirus.
- Isolation separates people who are sick, and showing symptoms of COVID-19, from others who are not sick. Isolation keeps people who know they are infected away from healthy people.
- Quarantine separates people who know they were exposed to someone with COVID-19 coronavirus, or who recently traveled to a location where the disease was spreading rapidly. Quarantines are for people who do not show symptoms, but should be kept separate because they have a higher-than-average likelihood of having been exposed to the disease. People in quarantine do not leave quarantine for at least 14 days.
When should you isolate from others?
- If you are experiencing the common symptoms of COVID-19: fever, dry cough, shortness of breath, and fatigue.
- If you have mild symptoms, stay home, rest, and avoid contact with others until you feel completely better.
- Because there is no medication for COVID-19, you are safer staying home with mild symptoms than going to a place where you might expose others or be exposed to others with illness.
When should you quarantine from others?
- If you were recently exposed to someone with a positive test for COVID-19 coronavirus.
- If you were recently exposed to someone with symptoms of COVID-19.
- If you have traveled to an area with a high number of cases.
- If you have traveled to a high-risk country within the last 14 days.