Do You Still Have to Isolate With a COVID Illness?

A lot has changed since COVID-19 first appeared in the U.S. We now have effective vaccines and COVID treatments that can reduce the risk of severe disease. And most people in the country have some level of immunity from prior infection, vaccination, or both. 

As a result, the recommendations around how long to isolate when you’re sick with COVID have changed. Here are the current guidelines on what to do if you have COVID and how to reduce the risk of spreading the infection.

Do you still need to isolate when you’re sick with COVID?

Yes, you should isolate yourself when you’re sick with COVID. But it’s no longer recommended that people isolate themselves for a fixed number of days. Instead, you should isolate based on your symptoms. 

If you’re sick with COVID, the CDC recommends staying home for 24 hours after:

• Your symptoms have improved AND

• You no longer have a fever

Once that happens, you can return to your normal activities. But you should still take precautions to avoid spreading the virus for the next 5 days. These include:

• Wearing a mask

• Covering your cough and/or sneeze 

• Practicing good hand hygiene

• Keeping physical distance between yourself and others

Should you isolate if you’re up-to-date with COVID vaccines?

Yes. You should isolate until 24 hours have passed since both your symptoms improved and your fever went away — no matter your vaccination status. 

It’s true that people who have been vaccinated are less likely to spread COVID. But the recommendations are the same. Isolation can help decrease the risk of spreading illness and protect vulnerable people. 

Should you still wear a mask if you have COVID?

Yes, you should wear a mask if you need to leave the house while you have symptoms of COVID. This reduces the risk of transmitting the virus to others. 

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Studies have shown that people are most contagious while they have COVID symptoms. Once symptoms improve, the risk of spreading COVID decreases. 

But you can still spread COVID even after you start to feel better. That’s why experts recommend taking additional precautions, such as wearing a mask in public, for 5 days after you begin to recover.

How long are you contagious after you test positive for COVID?

It depends. In general, people are most contagious with COVID for the first 5 to 7 days of infection. 

But exactly how long you can spread the virus depends on a few things:

• The severity of illness

• The health of your immune system

• Whether or not you’re vaccinated against COVID

People who have been vaccinated against COVID tend to be infectious for a shorter period of time compared to people who are unvaccinated. And people with severe COVID or a weakened immune system may be infectious for longer. 

That said, current recommendations — isolation followed by 5 days of precautions to prevent spread — covers the time most people are contagious. 

How can you prevent COVID illness?

The best way to prevent COVID illness is by staying up-to-date with COVID vaccinations. Like other viral infections, the virus that causes COVID is constantly changing (mutating). That’s why you can get sick from COVID multiple times. It’s also why the vaccines for COVID keep changing. Experts are updating the vaccines according to recent viral variants.

Check with a healthcare professional or a pharmacist to make sure you have the current vaccine. The 2024-2025 COVID vaccine is recommended for everyone ages 6 months and older. 

If you do get COVID before you can get the updated vaccine, wait until you’re no longer contagious before getting the shot. This means waiting a couple of weeks or up to 3 months after COVID illness. This is because most people will have some immunity to COVID immediately after an infection. And the vaccine is more useful if you wait a few months to get it. 

If you’re at high risk for getting reinfected, you may want to get the vaccine sooner. Not sure about your risk? Reach out to your primary care provider to discuss.

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Written by:

Christine Giordano, MD

Christine Giordano, MD, is board-certified in general internal medicine. She received her medical degree from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and completed residency at Thomas Jefferson University.

Edited by:

Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH

Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH, is a medical editor at GoodRx. She is a licensed, board-certified pediatrician with more than a decade of experience in academic medicine.

Reviewed by:

Mandy Armitage, MD

Mandy Armitage, MD, has combined clinical medicine with her passion for education and content development for many years. She served as medical director for the health technology companies HealthLoop (now Get Well) and Doximity.

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