The following people should get tested for COVID-19:

• People who have symptoms of COVID-19.

• People who have come into close contact with someone with COVID-19 should be tested to check for infection:

  • Fully vaccinated people should be tested 5–7 days after their last exposure.

  • People who are not fully vaccinated should get tested immediately when they find out they are a close contact. If their test result is negative, they should get tested again 5–7 days after their last exposure or immediately if symptoms develop.

• People not fully vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccine who are prioritized for expanded community screening for COVID-19.

• People not fully vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccine who have been asked or referred to get testing by their school, workplace, healthcare provider, state, tribal, local external icon, or territorial health department.

• If you’ve been exposed and are experiencing symptoms—even mild symptoms, get tested right away.

• If you’ve been exposed but do not have any symptoms, wait 5 -7 days after the exposure to get tested.

• If you get tested too early your body will not have developed enough of a “viral load” to show up on the test so your results could come back negative even though you might actually have COVID-19.

• If a “close contact” gets tested and is negative, that person still has to remain in quarantine as symptoms and viral load can appear up to 14 days post-exposure.

1. If you have confirmed or suspected COVID-19 and have symptoms, you can end home isolation when all the below is true:

   • It’s been at least 24 hours with no fever without using fever-reducing medication AND

   • Your symptoms have improved, AND

   • At least 10 days since symptoms first appeared.

2. If you test positive for COVID-19, but have not had any symptoms, you can end home isolation when:

   • At least 10 days have passed since the date of your first positive COVID-19 test, AND

   • You have had no subsequent illness.

3. I had close contact with someone who has COVID-19 but I am not sick. What should I do?

   • You should stay home and away from others. Check yourself for fever, cough, and shortness of breath for 14 days from the last day you had close contact with the person. Do not go to work or school, and avoid public places for 14 days (self-quarantine). Even if you test negative, you need to remain at home, away from others for the full 14 days.

   For more info: https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/1600/coronavirus/COVIDexposed.pdf

For COVID-19 a close contact is any individual who was within 6 feet of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period, or coming in direct contact with secretions, such as through kissing, sharing a drink, cigarette, vape, etc. regardless of exposure time. Contact tracing will be conducted for close contacts of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients.

Believe it or not there are differences between quarantine and isolation. Quarantine asks that you stay home and avoid contact with anyone not in your household. Isolation asks that you stay home and avoid contact with everyone, including those in your household. To learn more about these differences click here.

Yes. You should keep apart from others, even those in your household as much as possible. Stay away from others, even if you are not showing symptoms because the virus can spread before symptoms appear. If you have no safe place to stay apart from others, call our local helpline.

You will receive a call from a health care provider or a contact tracing team member if you test positive. The caller will help figure out if family, friends, or co-workers have been exposed to the virus. They will not ask about your immigration status, social security number, or finances. Any information they collect will only be shared with public health professionals who are working to contain the virus. The caller can also help connect you to any support you might need.

Yes, this helps minimize the transmission of the virus in your workplace. You will also need to stay home to isolate until 24 hours after your fever is gone (without the help of fever-reducing medicine), and your other symptoms have improved, and 10-days after your symptoms started. For more information check out the DOH website for workplace resources and how long to isolate or the Labor and Industries website for worker resources.

We can help you. Please contact our local Community Health helpline: 509.524.2647 (Daily | 8-5).