What to Do if You’ve Been Exposed to COVID-19

Contact your instructor(s) to inform them that you’ve been exposed to COVID-19 and to make arrangements for class assignments.

• Wear a high-quality mask for 10 days
• Antigen test on day #5 if you remain asymptomatic
• Negative antigen test – wear a surgical mask for 5 days and resume activities
• Positive antigen test – isolate for 5 days if symptoms resolve without meds

If you prefer not to test and have COVID-19 symptoms, isolate for 10 days from the onset of symptoms if symptoms have resolved without meds.

Follow the results outlined at What to Do if You Test Positive for COVID-19.

The California Department of Public Health added the following definitions for close contact and infectious period to their State Public Health Officer Order dated June 8, 2022.

“For the purposes of the California Department of Public Health’s recommendations regarding isolation and quarantine periods for persons infected with or exposed to COVID-19, the following definitions apply:

a. Close Contact  is defined as someone sharing the same indoor airspace (e.g., home, clinic waiting room, airplane etc.) for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period (for example, three individual 5-minute exposures for a total of 15 minutes) during an infected person’s (laboratory-confirmed or a clinical diagnosis) infectious period.

b. Infectious Period is defined as:

• For symptomatic infected persons, 2 days before the infected person had any symptoms through Day 10 after symptoms first appeared (or through Days 5-10 if testing negative on Day 5 or later), and 24 hours have passed with no fever, without the use of fever-reducing medications, and symptoms have improved, OR
• For asymptomatic infected persons, 2 days before the positive specimen collection date through Day 10 after positive specimen collection date (or through Days 5-10 if testing negative on Day 5 or later) after specimen collection date for their first positive COVID-19 test.

For the purposes of identifying close contacts and exposures, infected persons who test negative on or after Day 5 and end isolation are no longer considered to be within their infectious period. Such persons should continue to follow CDPH isolation recommendations, including wearing a well-fitting face mask through Day 10.”