The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) updated their
guidance issued for isolation and quarantine for COVID-19
contact tracing. Isolation and quarantine procedures are core to
containing the COVID-19 virus. CDPH defines isolation as
separating individuals infected with a contagious disease from
those who are not infected, and quarantine is defined as,
restricting the movement of persons who are exposed to a
contagious disease in case they are infected. The updated
guidance follows the recent CDC changes, and acknowledges the
importance of these public health procedures, while recognizing
the difficulty for the public to adhere to a long duration of
isolation and quarantine.
The guidance offers steps to effectively isolate and quarantine
at home. The document provides an update to the isolation
duration of both asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals.
Pursuant to the new guidance, asymptomatic individuals should
isolate for 10 days from the date of the positive COVID-19 test,
which differs from the earlier 14 day recommendation.
The new isolation guidance for symptomatic individuals states
isolation can be discontinued after 10 days have passed since the
onset of symptoms, at least 24 hours have passed since a fever
has passed without the assistance of medication, and other
symptoms have improved. As new research and data becomes
available, CDPH will continue to update their guidance.
