You have covid-19. When can you come out of isolation? If you resume activities outside your home, can you be sure you are no longer contagious?
It’s complicated. Be warned: Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are nuanced, but a bit confusing.
These guidelines are under review and may change. Several infectious disease experts said they believe covid patients should have a negative antigen test – which gives results within minutes – before being released from isolation. Currently, the CDC leaves this as an option and does not specifically recommend it.
The important thing to keep in mind, experts say, is that each person and each case of Covid is unique. There is no hard and fast rule for how sick a person will get or how long a person stays contagious. The guidelines offer a general framework, but patients should consider their different circumstances, priorities and resources to assess risk.
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