How long do you have to stay home with COVID in 2024?

CHESAPEAKE, Va. ( WAVY ) — As the fall and winter seasons approach, the spread of illness may be top of mind for you. Nationally, flu and RSV cases are low, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show COVID-19 cases are already elevated in most areas.

But without mandates when it comes to COVID, people are getting different advice about what to do when they are sick.

“So, the recommendations right now are different for the community versus health care workers ,” said Lisa Engle, an epidemiologist with the Virginia Department of Health. “For the community, the guidelines are very relaxed.”

Engle explained to Nexstar’s WAVY that the general rule is to stay home until you’re fever-free for 24 hours with improving symptoms. The CDC notes that you should be fever-free without the use of fever-reducing medications.

If you don’t get a fever, you can return to work or school 24 hours after your symptoms have improved. Then, wear a mask for the next five days — it’s important to remember that even if you are feeling better, you may still be contagious, according to the CDC.

For health care workers it’s more complicated.

“The guideline, really, is saying that you should stay out for seven days for a health care worker — for seven days and be free of symptoms for at least 24 hours, and there’s a negative test,” Engle said. The severity of your illness and how your immune system works can change the rules, extending that time.

Engle said there have been workers who do not want to test. In that case, she recommends at least wearing a mask.

“OK, I know there’s a lot of controversy about these masks,” Engle said. “I’ve heard it. I’ve heard everything. I know they work. I know because of outbreaks I’ve dealt with, I know they work.”

When a mask is on, respiratory droplets aren’t flying around when you cough or sneeze. That’s how the virus spreads.

If you have to go to work, Engle recommends you stay behind a closed door or plexiglass and away from other people, because even if you feel OK with COVID, they may not.

“If you were sick right now, would you be coughing on a baby that came into the room or your husband or a child or your grandma? Would you? I don’t think you would,” she said.

Engle also pointed to two options that can help slow the spread of the virus and improve how you feel: Paxlovid and the COVID-19 vaccine.

If you catch your symptoms within the first day or two, your doctor can give you Paxlovid, which can cut the severity of symptoms.

The vaccine offers no guarantee you won’t get COVID-19, but those who get the shot usually have fewer symptoms if they do get it. The Food and Drug Administration has already granted emergency use authorization for an updated version of the COVID vaccine , which “more closely targets” the currently circulating variants, The Hill reported in August.

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