When Is It Safe to Return to Work After Having COVID-19?
If you’re wondering what the guidelines are for ending isolation after contracting COVID-19 so you can return to work, watch this video.
As some schools like colleges and businesses in certain industries are considering plans for reopening, we’re discussing what strategies and criteria are being used to make decisions about when to end isolation after you’ve had COVID-19.
Dr. Stephanie Camaglia Reznick, a board-certified internal medicine physician and one of Oscar’s telemedicine providers, discusses guidelines for ending isolation so you can return to work or school.
Video transcript
“Hi, I’m Dr. Stephanie Camaglia Reznick. I’m a board-certified internal medicine physician and one of the doctors on call available through Oscar.
In this video, I’ll be discussing the CDC guidelines to be released from isolation so you can return to school or work. Please keep in mind these guidelines are rapidly evolving so you may want to check out the CDC website for the most up-to-date information. Also, keep in mind that your employer or school may have different criteria so you’ll want to contact the supervisor or someone at the school to make sure they are okay with you returning.
Please keep in mind these guidelines are rapidly evolving so you may want to check out the CDC website for the most up-to-date information. Also, keep in mind that your employer or school may have different criteria.
To jump into the return to work protocol, first I’ll be talking about patients who have active symptoms or have had active symptoms of COVID-19. To return to work or school, there are two different criteria sets that can be used. The first one is called the symptom based strategy.
In the symptom based strategy, you must meet three criteria. First, at least ten days must have passed since you first started feeling sick. Second, you must be without a fever for 72 hours. During these 72 hours, you must not be taking medications that can mask a fever. These medications are things like Tylenol (which is acetaminophen), Advil or Motrin (which are ibuprofen), or Aleve (which is naproxen). Keep in mind some medications like NyQuil, DayQuil, Theraflu might include some of these medications. And then finally you must feel that your respiratory symptoms are generally improving. They may not be completely gone but you feel like you’re starting to feel better.
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