County Guidelines for Mass Isolation
Contra Costa Health officials today issued guidelines for how individuals should be isolating after a positive test for COVID-19.
From the Health Services website, the guidelines are:
All individuals who are diagnosed with COVID-19 must immediately take the following actions:
Isolate themselves in their home or another residence following all requirements listed in the “Self-Isolation Instructions for Confirmed Cases.”
Tell their close contacts that they need to quarantine themselves, following the “Home Quarantine Instructions for Close Contacts.” Close contacts who should be notified to self-quarantine are people who were near them during their infectious period, as further described in the health order below. The infectious period commences 48 hours before symptoms began (or, in the absence of symptoms, 48 hours before the date of administration of a positive test) and ends when the isolation period is over (see Section 4 of the health order below). Close contacts of an individual who has COVID-19 are persons who, during the individual’s infectious period, were within six feet of the individual for 15 minutes or longer.
The isolation period will be one of the following:
Individuals without symptoms must isolate for 10 days from the date of a positive test.
Individuals with symptoms must isolate until:
At least 24 hours have passed since recovery, defined as resolution of both fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and improvement of cough, shortness of breath, and other symptoms if present AND
At least 10 days have passed since their symptoms started.
Individuals with symptoms and hospitalized in the intensive care unit must isolate until:
At least 24 hours have passed since recovery, defined as resolution of both fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and improvement of cough, shortness of breath, and other symptoms if present AND
At least 20 days have passed since their symptoms started.
Checking in on Elderly Family/Friends/Neighbors
Do you have friends, family or neighbors who are elderly and have been working to stay at home as much as possible to avoid exposure to COVID-19? If you do, take the time to check in on their well-being, whether it be a phone call, e-mail, text, or just chatting in a socially distanced manner.
Make sure they have everything they need and offer help if needed. As with many during the pandemic, they may feel alone and isolated. Knowing that someone cares and is willing to provide aid during these stressful times can be a huge boost to their mental health.
Coping with Stress
One common issue associated with the COVID-19 outbreak, the health orders, and the ongoing uncertainty of when there may be a return to normalcy have left many feeling the effects of stress.
Contra Costa Health Services has several tips for managing stress and reducing its impact on day to day life.
These tips include:
- Take care of your body. Work to eat healthy, stay hydrated, get plenty of sleep and exercise
- When working from home, be sure to take breaks
- During downtime do activities you enjoy
- Take breaks from watching news reports
- Connect with others, and talk through any concerns
- Maintain a structure and routine
People feeling a great deal of stress and anxiety should try to avoid use of alcohol or drugs as that can only exacerbate the situation.
For those in need of additional help, you can call 211 for the county’s Crisis Center hotline or text HOPE to 20121 to speak or text with someone. Additional resources can be found on the County Health Services website.