Stay home except to get medical care
- Stay home: People who are mildly ill with COVID-19 can isolate at home during their illness. Restrict activities outside your home except for getting medical care.
- Avoid public areas: Do not go to work, school, or public areas.
- Avoid public transportation: Avoid using public transportation, ride-sharing, or taxis.
Separate yourself from other people and animals in your home
- Stay away from others: As much as possible, you should stay in a specific room and away from other people in your home. Also, you should use a separate bathroom, if available.
- Limit contact with pets and animals: Restrict contact with pets and other animals while you are sick with COVID-19, just like you would around other people. Although there have not been reports of pets or other animals becoming sick, it is still recommended that you limit contact with animals until more information is known about the virus. If you must care for your pet or be around animals while you are sick, wash your hands before and after you interact with them and wear a face mask.
Call ahead before visiting your doctor
- Call ahead: If you have a medical appointment, call the healthcare provider and tell them that you have or may have COVID-19. This will help the healthcare provider's office take steps to keep other people from getting infected or exposed.
Wear a face mask
- If you are sick: You should wear a face mask when you are around other people or pets and before you enter a healthcare provider's office.
- If you are caring for others: You should wear a face mask if you enter a room with a person who is sick. If the person who is sick is not able to wear a face mask, then do not stay in the a same room with them.
Cover your coughs and sneezes and clean your hands
- Cover: Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
- Dispose: Throw used tissues in a lined trash can.
- Wash hands: Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, clean your hands with alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Always wash your hands immediately after blowing your nose. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
Avoid sharing personal household items
- Do not share: You should not share dishes, drinking glasses, cups, eating utensils, towels, or bedding with other people or pets in your home.
- Wash thoroughly after use: After using these items, they should be washed thoroughly with soap and water.
Clean all "high-touch" surfaces every day
- Clean and disinfect: Practice routine cleaning of high-touch surfaces. These include counters, tabletops, doorknobs, bathroom fixtures, toilets, phones, keyboards, tablets, cell phones, bedside tables, and light switches.
- Disinfect areas that have bodily fluids: Clean any surfaces that may have blood, stool, or body fluids on them.
- Household cleaners: Use a household cleaning spray or wipe, according to the label instructions.
Monitor your symptoms
- Seek medical attention: Seek prompt medical attention if your illness is worsening.
- Call your doctor: Before seeking care, call your healthcare provider and tell them that you have (or are being evaluated for) COVID-19.
- Wear a face mask when sick: Put on a face mask before you enter the facility. These steps will help the healthcare provider's office to keep other people from getting infected or exposed.
- Alert heath department: Ask your healthcare provider to call the local or state health department. Persons who are placed under active monitoring or facilitated self-monitoring should follow instructions provided by their local health department or occupational health professionals as appropriate.
- Call 911 if you have a medical emergency: If you have a medical emergency and need to call 911, notify the dispatch personnel that you have or are being evaluated for COVID-19. If possible, put on a face mask before emergency medical services arrive.
Discontinuing home isolation
- Stay at home until instructed to leave: Patients with confirmed COVID-19 should remain under home isolation precautions until the risk of secondary transmission to others is thought to be low.
- Talk to your healthcare provider: The decision to discontinue home isolation precautions should be made on a case-by-case basis, in consultation with healthcare providers and state and local health departments.
Source: Center for Disease Control - What to Do if You Are Sick
