When a roommate contracts COVID-19, questions often arise about personal risk and the necessary steps to protect oneself and others in a shared living space. Understanding current health guidelines is important for navigating this common situation effectively. These guidelines provide a framework for limiting viral transmission and maintaining well-being during a household exposure.
Understanding Exposure and Risk
Health authorities define close contact with someone with COVID-19 as being within six feet for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period. This timeframe begins two days before the infected person’s symptoms started, or two days before their positive test if they had no symptoms, and continues until they isolate. Living with an infected individual inherently creates a high-risk exposure scenario due to sustained close contact in shared indoor environments.
The virus spreads through respiratory droplets released when an infected person breathes, speaks, coughs, or sneezes. These droplets can be inhaled or transferred from contaminated surfaces to a person’s eyes, nose, or mouth. While exposure does not guarantee infection, the consistent presence in a household with a COVID-19 positive person significantly increases the likelihood of transmission.
Current Guidelines for Exposed Individuals
If you have been exposed to COVID-19, health guidelines no longer universally recommend a specific quarantine period. Instead, the focus is on monitoring for symptoms and taking precautions. It is advised to wear a high-quality mask for 10 days following the exposure. This measure helps reduce the potential for unknowingly spreading the virus if you become infected.
Testing plays a significant role after exposure. If you do not develop symptoms, it is recommended to wait at least five full days after your last exposure before taking a test. If symptoms appear, you should test immediately. If an initial test is negative, repeat testing is suggested. This typically means testing on day 1, day 3, and day 5, with day 0 being the day of exposure.
If you use an antigen (at-home) test and it is negative, it is often recommended to take a second test 48 hours later if you have symptoms, or two additional tests 48 hours apart if you are asymptomatic, to confirm you do not have COVID-19.
Preventing In-Household Spread
Minimizing viral spread within a shared living space requires specific actions when a roommate has COVID-19:
The infected individual should separate from others as much as possible, ideally using a separate bedroom and bathroom. If a separate bathroom is not feasible, shared surfaces should be cleaned frequently.
When the infected person must be in shared spaces, they should wear a face mask to reduce droplet transmission. If the infected person cannot wear a mask, others in the same room should wear one.
Improving air circulation by opening windows can help ventilate indoor areas and disperse viral particles.
Avoid sharing personal items such as dishes, cups, eating utensils, washcloths, and towels.
Practice frequent handwashing with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Regularly clean high-touch surfaces like doorknobs, light switches, and countertops.
What to Do if You Develop Symptoms or Test Positive
If you develop symptoms after exposure or receive a positive COVID-19 test result, stay home and away from others, including those you live with who are not sick. The duration of isolation depends on the progression of your symptoms.
You can resume your normal activities once you have been fever-free for at least 24 hours without fever-reducing medication and your other symptoms are improving. If your symptoms worsen or a fever returns, you should restart the isolation period from that point. After ending isolation, it is advisable to take additional precautions for five days. These precautions include wearing a well-fitting mask, maintaining physical distance from others, and choosing outdoor or well-ventilated settings when interacting with people. It is especially important to avoid close contact with individuals at higher risk for severe illness, such as the elderly or those with weakened immune systems, for at least 10 days from when your symptoms began or your positive test.