isolationEffective immediately, persons in Mono County with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 shall isolate themselves from other persons for a minimum of 10-days, not the previously recommended 7-days.

In addition, in order to be released from isolation COVID-19 case-patients must also be free of fever for at least 72 hours (without use of fever-reducing medications) and other symptoms must be gone.

Isolation at home means that people who are ill should avoid contact with anyone who is not a caregiver. If circumstances permit, people who are sick should sleep in a room by themselves and wear a face covering at all times, practice good hand and cough hygiene, and avoid sharing bathroom and other spaces with members of the household.

Caregivers should also wear face coverings and take care to wash or sanitize hands often. If it is not possible for ill persons to isolate themselves without putting others at risk of infection, isolation outside the home is recommended, for example in a local hotel. Such hotel accommodation can be supported by contacting the Unified Command Emergency Operations Center at (760) 932-5650. 

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week modified national COVID-19 isolation guidelines based on new evidence that live virus has been found in the upper respiratory tract for up to 9 days after the beginning of illness.

In order for our community to successfully move beyond the current Stay At Home Order, it is necessary for us to do everything possible to reduce the spread of the virus. Isolation of people with coronavirus infection is an essential part of this, along with routine distancing, hand and cough/sneeze hygiene, face coverings and quarantine of those exposed to persons with COVID-19.

Persons with COVID-19 who meet the criteria for ending isolation may return to work, school, and other activities while they continue to practice careful distancing and other measures.

Isolation and quarantine are similar, but distinct.

  • Isolation is for people who are sick (including people with no symptoms but a positive PCR test for the COVID-19 virus).
  • Quarantine is for people who are not sick but who have been exposed to the virus and might become sick (incubating). The quarantine period for people exposed to COVID-19 has not changed and remains 14 days from the time of last exposure to a person with the disease. This is because 14 days is the maximum known time from when someone is exposed to when they become sick. In fact, most people have much shorter incubation periods, with a minimum of 2 days and an average of about 5 days.

Distance. Wash. Cover and #CoverUpMono!

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