Stay home and do not go to work, school, or other activities if you feel sick and have symptoms that may be due to COVID-19. Symptoms include sore throat, runny nose, fever, cough, headache, even shortness of breath, and loss of smell and taste. The recommendation to stay home applies to all ages. It also applies to those who have been vaccinated and those who have previously had COVID-19.

You can return to your activities when you feel better. For preschool-aged children, good general condition means the child is alert, fever-free, and able to participate in activities.

The purpose of staying home when you feel sick is to prevent further spread of infection.

If you live with someone who has COVID-19, there is no need to stay home if you feel fine. However, watch for COVID-19 symptoms and stay home if symptoms appear.

How to protect yourself and others - COVID-19 recommendations:

PCR testing is no longer generally recommended for individuals. However, testing is recommended for patients, care users, healthcare workers, and the elderly with COVID-19 symptoms.

COVID-19 testing:

If you have done a self-antigen test, you should stay home and avoid close contact with others until you feel better, regardless of the test result. Also, do not exclude the possibility of having COVID-19 with a negative self-test result.

Also, note that symptoms change with new variants of the virus.