With the recent rise in cases here on the North Coast, MCC would like to remind our community about the difference between isolation and quarantine. It can be very complex, so please read carefully.

These are the most current guidelines, but they may change as the situation evolves. We will update our website and social media when the CDC issues new guidelines.

If you test positive for COVID-19, you will be told to isolate. If you are a contact of someone who is positive for COVID-19, you will be told to quarantine.

• If you live with the positive case, that person must isolate in the home to avoid all contact with you.
• The isolation order is for 10 days with day 1 being the day of the positive test. The quarantine order is for 14 days with day 1 being the last day you had contact with the positive case.
• If you continue to have contact with the positive person, your 14 day quarantine won’t start until you discontinue the contact or until that person’s isolation period ends.

o If you live in a situation where isolation is impossible, you will have to be out of work for nearly a month.

• If you don’t live with the positive case you were in contact with, you need to quarantine in your home away from anyone else who lives there, unless you all had contact with the positive person.

Quarantine means:

• Stay home for your 14 day period.
• No going to the store, only leave your home to seek medical care if necessary.
• Stay isolated from anyone in your home that is not under quarantine orders.
• Have no contact with anyone that does not live with you.

o Have groceries/supplies/food delivered to the door and allow the person to go back to their car before you open the door to retrieve the items.

Isolation means:

• Stay in one room (like a bedroom with a separate bathroom) away from anyone else in the house.
• Meals should be delivered to the door with no contact between you and anyone else in the home.
• If you don’t have a separate bathroom, you should have disinfectant materials in the bathroom and wipe down everything (faucet handles, sink, toilet flusher, anything you touch) and use your mask when going from your room to the bathroom. Wear your mask the whole time you are out of the room, including while you are in the bathroom.

It’s important for everyone to follow the guidelines when they are in isolation or quarantine. Together, we will get through this and help to protect our community’s health.