Quarantine Life

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) "Andrija Štampar" is asking anyone who tested positive for COVID-19 to stay home until they get their results. If you test positive, they want you to reach out to your primary care doctor immediately to sort out isolation protocols.

Close contacts of anyone testing positive should also check in with their family doctor to figure out if they need to self-isolate.

"Basically, if an epidemiologist hasn't called you yet to discuss isolation status, your family doctor is authorized to make that call. It’s meant to speed things up and take some weight off the shoulders of the overworked epidemiologists," the CDC said in a statement on Tuesday.

The institute issued this plea because the number of positive cases is spiking, and the sheer volume of daily swabs being processed is massive.

The CDC is also asking anyone who knows they've caught the virus to let their close contacts know and tell them to call their doctor, whether or not an official from the health department has reached out yet.

Doing this helps the epidemiologists move faster and helps shut down the spread sooner, according to the institute.

"Our epidemiologists are working their tails off to track down everyone infected and their contacts, but with how bad things have gotten, they just can't keep up with the timing. We're asking for everyone's help and responsibility here—it's the only way to stop this thing from spreading further," the CDC stated.

They also gave a quick thanks to everyone for hanging in there and following the rules so far, reminding people of the basics: wear your mask, keep your distance, and wash your hands.

Closing with a "Stay brave, responsible, and steady," the CDC noted that their teams—much like all epidemiologists across America—have been pulling superhuman shifts since the first case hit the US. They're working dawn till dusk to test people and get this under control.

Lawrence Reed3 said:I'm just speaking for myself here.
I mean, I might pick a weekend to stay in, especially if the weather is being terrible—but I'm definitely not talking about staying cooped up for two weeks straight. Even then, I'd at least head out for some groceries.
Plus, I actually stay active—I work out, I run, and I love hiking in nature. I'm really not one of those people who spends days slumped on the sofa glued to the TV.
So, obviously, if I'm feeling sick, I'm not going to go out—it's just not happening—but I guess it depends on how bad it is. I certainly wouldn't lock myself away just because of a tiny little cold, and honestly, when I feel a bit run down, a workout is usually what gets me back on my feet. It's a different story, though, when something hits you harder and your body just won't let you move.

Nicholas Davis4 said:Sorry, you were really just a springboard for my thoughts on the state of the country.
In this context, "you" was just a figure of speech rather than a direct call-out to you personally.

Keith Barrett2 said:Honestly, even just seeing 🙄 his username makes me think back to that absolute disaster of a life he had when they shut down his local Gold's Gym during the lockdown... man, he was practically begging for some illegal 🤦

Lawrence Reed3 said:John, honestly, everyone has their own little tragedies in life—for one person, it might be not being able to hit the gym, or losing a job, or even just not being able to go out to a club... everyone's got something. I guess anything that totally wrecks your daily routine feels like a bit of a tragedy, right?

Nicholas Davis4 said:I was just catching up with a friend who works at a private clinic. They don't bother with masks there because they feel it’s all just unnecessary hype and overreaction—they mostly handle private insurance contracts anyway. Meanwhile, he has a girlfriend living out in the rural Midwest in this massive, traditional household where nobody has ever even heard of contraception. We're talking five kids, parents, grandparents, all under one roof, plus aunts, uncles, and half the town dropping by daily. Now, the father has COVID-19, and this whole crowd is basically an open house for the virus. To make matters worse, my friend from New York City is heading out there this weekend and bringing his brother along. He thinks he's in the clear since his test results came back negative after a few days of symptoms, but it's a risky move.

On another note, a doctor from a major hospital in New York City passed away recently. His funeral was held right before the new restrictions kicked in. I heard there were about 300 people there—a huge gathering of doctors and medical staff. Afterward, they went to a service, and the priest actually told everyone to take their masks off, saying that God would watch over them there.

Gary Moore4 said:I’m thinking it’s about 10 days of isolation if you’ve just got mild symptoms. If you’re dealing with pneumonia, obviously you aren't going to work—you just call your doctor. I don't know the protocol for a simple cough, but personally, I’d reach out to my physician if I still felt like crap after those 10 days passed. Could be COVID, could be anything else..

Sent from my Samsung using Reddit

Nicholas Davis4 said:😂 🤣

Is that all? It seems like there are practically no criteria for what qualifies as a tragedy—or if there are, the bar is set incredibly low.
Whether we’re dealing with a pandemic or not, the outcome remains exactly the same.

lonebadger6 said:Well, without getting bogged down in the rest of the drama, at least the sick guy himself is officially in the clear.

The rule is you have to isolate for 10 days starting from when those first symptoms pop up, which happens to be right when his isolation period ends this weekend.

But the other people living in the house? That's a whole different story... 😁

Personally, I find the whole thing incredibly nonsensical and inconsistent... They finally decided to shorten the isolation window for contacts, but right before that decision went through, my friends tested positive—my brother and sister... My brother didn't show a single symptom, but since my sister was the first one to test positive, he was stuck in isolation for 14 days. She wasn't deathly ill, just had a fever and a nasty cough, but she was cleared to head back to work after 10 days. By then, her fever was gone, even if she still had that lingering cough.

So you have this guy who never felt a single thing, yet he can't even step outside to take out the trash, while she can go straight back to the office with a COVID cough...

CDC
FOR PUBLIC HEALTH
...
7 Rockefeller Plaza, New York
October 26, 2020

Version 4.
CRITERIA FOR SARS-CoV-2 TESTING, ENDING ISOLATION AND QUARANTINE
Consolidated revised recommendations on testing priorities for SARS-CoV-2,
handling contacts, ending isolation and quarantine ("self-isolation")

...
...Procedures for close contacts of an individual with COVID-19
To reduce the spread of infection, all close contacts of the infected person are directed to undergo health monitoring in
quarantine/self-isolation.
Close contacts do not need to be tested at the start or during quarantine/self-isolation unless
they develop symptoms (if capacity allows) or there is an epidemiological
indication.
Close contacts* are subject to health monitoring in quarantine/self-isolation for a duration of 10 days
from the last close contact with the infected person.
Upon completion of self-isolation, when returning to normal work and other activities, it is especially important
to adhere to infection prevention measures (physical distancing, hygiene, wearing a mask), and in the event
of any symptoms appearing, to stay home.
If the patient and contacts live in a shared household where isolating the patient isn't possible (for example,
an ill child being cared for by parents), household contacts are subject to quarantine for 10 days from
the last contact with the infected person. If they remain in continuous close contact with the patient, this
implies a 20-day quarantine (the 10-day infectious period of the patient plus 10 days
of quarantine following the patient's last day of being infectious) from the date of the patient's illness, provided
that the patient meets the requirements for ending isolation after ten days and the contacts do not develop
symptoms during that period, which should be assessed by the designated primary care physician.

...

lonebadger6 said:Well, obviously if you're actually deathly ill, nobody is kicking you back to work after 10 days 😁 But once the fever breaks and things settle down, you're expected to get back to the grind, even if there's a lingering cough. She feels fine, really, it's just the coughing left over, which isn't exactly unheard of after any nasty virus...

Look, I'm not saying people should be out wandering around while they're hacking away, but given the level of panic we see elsewhere, the logic seems a bit skewed... On one hand, we were basically locking down hundreds of perfectly healthy people for 14 days just to be safe, yet we let people walk around coughing if they've tested positive 🙂

Gary Martin12 said:Can someone please clarify what "close contact" actually entails? For instance, if an infected person was standing just a few feet away from me while handing me something, then left—that’s maybe three minutes of interaction. In that scenario, would I be considered a close contact?