INSTRUCTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH COVID-19
Instructions for Self-Isolation & Health Monitoring
If you have COVID-19 (also known as novel coronavirus), you will need to stay in your home until you are well and no longer infectious. This is called home isolation. When you are able to leave your home will depend mainly on your symptoms, but everyone will have to stay home for at least 10 days after symptoms start or for 10 days after your test date if you never have symptoms.
If you have symptoms, you will be able to leave your home when:
o Any fever has been gone for at least 24 hours without using fever medicine AND
o Your symptoms (like sore throat or cough) have improved AND
o It has been at least 10 days since your symptoms started.
If you were tested but did not have any symptoms at the time of testing, you should check your temperature daily and pay attention to whether you have symptoms of COVID-19 such as cough, runny nose, sore throat, vomiting or diarrhea, body aches, headache or loss of taste and smell. If you start having any of these symptoms, please contact Public Health and let us know. If you are seriously ill, call your health care provider, or seek emergency care. Otherwise, you can leave your home when:
o It has been 10 days since your test date
o You have not developed any symptoms.
Protect the Public:
• Stay home except to see your doctor. Reschedule any non-essential health care appointments (non- urgent doctor’s appointments, dentist appointments, etc.)
• Do not go to work or school.
• Do not invite people into your home or visit with them outside your home.
• Do not use public transportation (Bus, Airplane, Taxi, UBER, LYFT).
• Do not travel.
• Do not go to the movies, church, a shopping mall or any place where lots of people may gather.
• You can go outside in your own yard (not a shared yard).
Protect your family:
• Cover your coughs and sneezes with tissues, and throw them away immediately.
• You and your family should wash hands frequently using soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
• Separate yourself from other people in your home as much as possible.
• Stay in a specific room away from other people, and use a separate bathroom if possible
• Avoid sharing personal household items such as drinking glasses, dishes, eating utensils, towels and bedding. These items are safe for others to use after regular washing.
• Increase the thoroughness and frequency of your cleaning routine, specifically in areas that need to be shared such as a bathroom or kitchen.
• Clean doorknobs, phones, keyboards, tablets, bedside tables, toilets, bathroom and kitchen fixtures.
Protect Vulnerable Members in your community:
• Please let us know if you have a close contact or someone in your household who spends a lot of time or works in a skilled nursing facility, nursing home, memory care center, correctional/detention facility, shelter, group home, day program, dialysis center, health care facility or works as a first responder.
Humboldt County Residents: You or they can contact us by calling Humboldt County Public Health at 707-268-2182 or emailing us at CVDnurse@co.humboldt.ca.us.
Del Norte County Residents: You or they can contacts us by calling Del Norte Public Health at 707-464-0861 or emailing us at cvdvaccine@dnco.org
• If you have close contacts or household members who cannot separate from you during your isolation period as noted under the above section “Protect your family,” then have them monitor their symptoms and remain at home for an additional 10-14 days past the end of your isolation. Staying home 14 days is safest to prevent spread of infection to others.
• If someone in your family becomes sick, have them contact their health care provider and tell him/her that your family member has been in contact with someone with COVID-19.
Monitor your health:
• Seek prompt medical attention if your illness is worsening. For example, if you start to have trouble breathing.
• If you need to call 911, notify the dispatch personnel that you have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
• Before seeking care, call your medical provider and inform them that you have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Put on a face covering before entering any health care facility. If you do not have one, send someone into the facility to ask for one and to inform the staff of your arrival.
For questions or concerns:
Humboldt County Residents: Please call the Humboldt County COVID Information Line during normal business hours, weekdays 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at 707-441-5000 or email at CovidInfo@co.humboldt.ca.us.
Del Norte County residents: Please call the Del Norte County Public Health Line during normal business hours, weekdays 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at 707-464-0861 or email at cvdvaccine@dnco.org