Press Contact: Matthai Chakko, (510) 981-7008IF YOU TRAVELED OR CELEBRATED WITH PEOPLE YOU DON’T LIVE WITH OVER WINTER HOLIDAYS, QUARANTINE
Staying home for 10 days after an exposure stops the spread of COVID-19
Berkeley, California (Tuesday, January 05, 2021) - If you traveled outside the Bay Area to celebrate winter holidays, spent time with travelers from elsewhere, or gathered with anyone outside your household, quarantine at home for 10 days to avoid spreading COVID-19 to others.
Mixing with other households creates a high risk of COVID-19 exposure, a risk that's heightened amidst an unprecedented spread of COVID-19 nationwide.
It's a good idea to quarantine if you:
- Gathered with people you do not normally live with - especially if you were indoors, less than 6 feet apart, or around anyone not wearing a face mask.
- Travelled outside the region - especially on planes, buses, trains, or other shared vehicles.
The activities that put you at risk may have seemed as routine as a child coming home from college or a plane trip to see a grandparent. But in a pandemic with a virus that spreads easily through breath, preventing further infections is something each of us can help do.
Quarantines stop the spread.
Steps to take in quarantine
The fundamentals of staying in quarantine are straightforward. Stay home for 10 days and monitor your symptoms for 14 days after your last contact with a person who has COVID-19 or engaging in a high-risk activity.
- Watch for fever (100.4◦F), cough, shortness of breath, or other symptoms of COVID-19
- If possible, stay away from others in your home, especially people who are at higher risk for getting very sick from COVID-19.
Testing is a snapshot in time
A negative test doesn't mean you don't have COVID-19, especially when in quarantine.
The amount of the virus in an infected person may be undetectable at first. A negative test on any previous day doesn't rule out testing positive later in the disease process.
That makes quarantines essential. While everyone should stay home when sick, an estimated 50 percent of COVID-19 cases are infected by people who didn't have symptoms or know they were sick. Quarantines can stop the otherwise exponential domino effect of COVID-19 spread.
Health Order requires quarantine for close contacts of COVID-19 positive cases
The City of Berkeley's Quarantine Health Order requires people to quarantine if they were exposed to someone with -- or presumed to have -- COVID-19.
Public health workers, known as contact tracers, use interviews with a person who tests positive to identify and reach out to close contacts -- people who might be potentially infected and spreading COVID-19.
Someone is considered a close contact if they were within 6 feet of someone infectious with COVID-19 for a total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. You can also be a close contact if you shared food or utensils with, had direct physical contact with, or were sneezed or coughed upon by someone sick with COVID-19.
Quarantines are different than isolation, which is required of those who test positive or are presumed to be positive for COVID-19.
With virus surging, continue to limit activities after quarantine ends
The entire Bay Area, including the City of Berkeley, is currently under a Regional Stay at Home Order, imposed by the California Department of Public Health. While this Order remains in effect, everyone should stay home except for essential needs and avoid gathering with anyone outside their household.
When you leave for work, groceries, or other essential errands, you greatly reduce potential exposure -- and chances you'll need to quarantine -- by keeping your trip short, wearing a face covering, and staying at least six feet away from those outside your household.
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