Valley Medical Center has reviewed the CDC’s two new options for quarantine after close contact with someone with COVID-19. Close contact may include household exposure, or being within 6 feet of an infected person for a total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period. The two new options allow patients to discontinue quarantine after day 10 without testing, or day 7 with a negative test taken on day 5. Regardless of these new options, the CDC continues to endorse a 14-day quarantine as the highest standard of safety to avoid the risk of spread after a close contact. CDC advises that local health authorities make the final decisions about how long quarantine should last, based on local conditions and needs.

To ensure the highest level of safety and minimize community spread, Valley Medical Center will continue to support the CDC’s most conservative quarantine option and recommend a 14-day quarantine for our patients after a close contact.