When Will You Be Able to Be Around People Again After Getting Sick With COVID-19?
The president said he was “not contagious at all” after spending time in hospital over the COVID-19 case and would like to appear in a personal debate next week. (The Debate Commission said the debate will be deleted.) Could he be right? It’s Complicated.
Counting days since the first symptoms appeared
First, let’s check the official CDC guidelines . It is said that if you know or think you have contracted COVID and have had symptoms:
You can be close to others after:
- 10 days from the onset of the first symptoms and
- 24 hours without fever without the use of antipyretic drugs and
- Other COVID-19 symptoms are improving *
* Loss of taste and smell can persist for weeks or months after recovery, and there is no need to postpone the end of isolation.
The president’s medical team did not say when he first tested positive for the coronavirus or when symptoms first appeared. According to a timeline compiled by the New York Times , on Wednesday, September 30, he gave a shorter than usual campaign speech, and the next day (October 1) he developed a cough, nasal congestion and fatigue. His positive result was announced later that night, in the early hours of Friday, October 2.
If he had his first symptoms on October 1, he would have complied with the first CDC requirement since October 11 (this is coming Sunday). If symptoms develop earlier, the ten-day mark will be pushed back to match.
We really don’t know about his current symptoms.
The President said he was doing well, but the checklist did not ask how you were feeling . The second point concerns the absence of fever without medication.
Certain medications can lower your body temperature, even if your body really wants you to have a fever. For example, if your toddler has a sore throat and a fever, you can give him Tylenol. Their fever may disappear, but you still cannot send them to kindergarten because they are still sick. Fever masking does not count.
We know that Trump received dexamethasone in the hospital, a steroid that reduces inflammation and improves survival for people with moderate to severe cases of COVID. Dexamethasone can mask a fever . (It also makes people feel amazing and can cause mood swings and arousal.)
For COVID, dexamethasone is usually given for up to 10 days or until the patient is discharged from the hospital . The New York Times reported that on Monday, October 5, he was still on medication at home.
No additional information has been reported, including symptoms and other drugs that could potentially mask symptoms. We know he received the antiviral remdesivir and an experimental cocktail of Regeneron antibodies, as well as several supplements such as zinc and melatonin, but the updates provided by his medical team were vague and did not help much to understand his health status.
Recommendations for the rest of us
In addition to the guidelines above, the CDC states that if you have had a severe case of COVID or if you have a weakened immune system, you may need to stay at home (which, by the way, is called isolation , not quarantine – quarantine is for people who do not know if they are sick) for 20 days instead of 10. Your doctor will tell you what you should do and may recommend further testing for a decision.
If you’ve never had symptoms, only test positive for COVID, the CDC recommends staying away from others for 10 days. If you develop symptoms during this time, the 10-day clock is reset and the guidelines above apply.
If you have not had a test or symptoms but have been in close contact with someone with COVID, you should stay away from others (quarantined) for 14 days after your last contact with that person. It turns out that this rule applies to several people in the administration.