What to Do if You’ve Been Exposed to COVID-19
If you’ve been exposed to the novel Coronavirus within the last 14 days, please follow the instructions below.
Applies to all regardless of vaccination status.
- The CDC recommends that instead of quarantining if you were exposed to COVID-19, you wear a high-quality mask for 10 days and get tested on day 5.
- If you test negative, you must continue taking precautions through day 10 by wearing a high-quality face covering when around others indoors.
- If you test positive for COVID-19 on day 5, you must stay home for at least 5 days and isolate from others. If after 5 days you are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of medication, or your symptoms are improving, or never had symptoms (asymptomatic), you may end isolation after day 5. Employees must continue to wear a high-quality mask through day 10.
If you have been exposed to or tested positive for COVID, or have questions or concerns about testing or COVID notification, please email Debbie Marriott-Simes at dmarriott-simes@cypresscollege.edu.
Close Contact and Infectious Period Definitions
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.”
For additional information about Cypress College’s response to Coronavirus, or to get details on what to do if you’ve been exposed to COVID-19, visit cypresscollege.edu/coronavirus.