If Sick or Exposed

If You Are Sick with COVID-19 or Being Evaluated for Infection

If you have tested positive for COVID-19 or are being evaluated, you'll be asked to stay home and monitor your symptoms to help prevent the disease from spreading to other people in your home and community. Other people you live with and those you had close contact with during the time you became sick, also will be asked to take specific actions to monitor for symptoms of illness and prevent further spread to others.

Staying home and avoiding contact with others, even those inside your household. It's an important step to avoid spreading to your family.

Staying home and avoiding physical contact with others is an important prevention step you can take to protect others from being infected and spreading further into the community. It can also be difficult, at times, as it may leave you feeling isolated, or alone. Calling up friends and using mobile video chats can be great ways to stay connected even when physically apart.

Pinal County Public Health follows the CDC recommendations for quarantine and isolation.

Quarantine

  • 5 days of quarantine is recommended for individuals exposed to a COVID-19-positive person. Quarantine can end on day 6 (i.e., quarantine at home for 5 full days) without testing and if no symptoms have been reported during daily monitoring. You should continue wearing a mask around others for 5 additional days after leaving your home.

If you are identified as a close contact, ADHS will offer daily symptom checks by telephoning you to enroll. The ID on the phone will say AZ HEALTH. Then, daily symptoms checks can be set up via text or other methods.

Fully vaccinated persons and previously infected persons ( within 90 days of infection) are not required to quarantine if they meet ALL the criteria, but should still wear a mask around others for 10 days.

Isolation

  • Persons who test positive for COVID-19 by PCR or antigen test should follow isolation guidance, regardless of vaccination status. Isolate from other people for at least 5 full days and wear a mask around others for an additional 5 days after leaving your home.

If you continue to have fever or your other symptoms have not improved after 5 days of isolation, you should wait to end your isolation until you are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and your other symptoms have improved.

Mitigation strategies (e.g. symptom monitoring and wearing face coverings) should continue for 10 days.

Note

Individuals will be responsible for providing any documentation to their work or school as needed. Public Health does not have this information.

If symptoms become severe, such as difficulty breathing, seek medical care immediately. If you need to see a healthcare provider, please call ahead to tell them you are a close contact of someone who is confirmed to have COVID-19 OR who has a respiratory infection. For medical emergencies, call 911 and notify the dispatch personnel. This will help the healthcare provider or first responders take steps to protect themselves from infection.

Adults over 60 and people who have severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung disease, or diabetes are at higher risk for more serious COVID-19 illness. If symptoms worsen, especially if difficulty breathing, seek medical care immediately.