Quarantine time for COVID19

[Bruh92331]

I have COVID-19, and all my symptoms have improved except for a daily fever. It's been 14 days since my symptoms first appeared. Do I still have to quarantine? If I do, for how long?

[AnnieBrooke]

I was just reading in the Atlantic magazine about success in Bhutan at fighting Covid (they have only had one Covid death). The article said one thing Bhutan did from the beginning that was different than elsewhere was require that quarantine should be 21 days.  It says, " A 14-day quarantine leaves about an 11 percent chance that, after being released, a person could still be incubating the infection and eventually become contagious."

[Paxiled]

Could it also be they are way up in the Himalayas and hardly anybody lives there?  They do get a fair amount of tourism, but they probably closed that down, too.  It helps to be isolated, as Australia and New Zealand are by virtue of being islands.  Of course, I don't know this to be true, but it's possible there's just little disease that came in and not a lot of crowding.  And maybe covid is afraid of heights!

[AnnieBrooke]

Well, the article is interesting on a lot of fronts. It didn't say that Bhutan had no Covid, just that they have the best rate (by a long way) of death from Covid. I mentioned it because MedHelp has asked us to cite our sources, and for this thread, the main point is the one that says, "A 14-day quarantine leaves about an 11 percent chance that, after being released, a person could still be incubating the infection and eventually become contagious." This backs up the idea that if you still have a fever, you might still be contagious. I that doesn't have anything to do with Bhutan, it sounds like an established medical fact. (Though where Bhutan took it, extending the quarantine to 21 days, has everything to do with Bhutan's firm actions to fight the virus.)

The other parts of the article are interesting because the describe a poor country that managed to do everything better in fighting Covid than much more wealthy countries. They shut down incoming people early and firmly (except Bhutanese coming home), and their contact tracing was exceptional. (Within 6 hours of learning someone had Covid, for example, they would be able to locate 300 people who had been in contact with the sick person. In the U.S., if you ever got that far at all, it sure wouldn't be the same day, and in most cases there wasn't even much of an attempt.) Bhutan evidently has a lot of social cohesion and relied on it, and also (not an insignificant aspect of their success) there is high trust of the government. The king was photographed in his mask early on, and pushed for a lot of the other steps they took. And, the population being largely Buddhist, there is a whole lot of attitude that we must do what we can for the good of our neighbor. (As you can see, we are not talking about the United States.) Bhutan is no an idyllic place -- they have a refugee crisis with people displaced originally from Nepal many years ago who were never granted full civil rights, and who have been recently (and forcibly) been pushed back from Bhutan to Nepal, and it's been pretty ugly. But this article is about Covid and why they have had only one death. If you're interested in reading it, it's in the Atlantic, and I think is titled "Bhutan is the World's Unlikeliest Pandemic Success."

[AnnieBrooke]

sorry about the typos -- I'm sure you can figure it out! typing fast.

[Paxiled]

It is interesting.  I'm not sure Buddhism provides any answers, it teaches acceptance, not necessarily helping others.  I've been a practicing and learning Buddhist at one time, and it's a bit overboard sometimes on not judging and accepting everything.  China, Japan, and lots of other Buddhist countries had their problems.  The quarantine issue is interesting -- I'm not sure there ever was any science behind the length of a quarantine as too long would make people non-compliant, so all policies have been a compromise.  The countries that have done best have locked down severely and have compliant populations and also have leaders who take it seriously.  But an interesting example I've heard about is most of Africa, with a couple of exceptions such as South Africa, hasn't been hit that hard.  Everyone assumed it would be because of a lack of medical infrastructure, but it hasn't for the most part.  Some attribute this to the way they eat leading to fewer metabolic disorders and the like and a very young population.  But all isolated societies have done relatively well, at least so far.  When there's a pandemic, it pays not to be in a crowded country with a lot of world travelers.  Clearly, though, if someone still has symptoms like a fever, I don't care what CDC says, stay isolated.  Best to be safe to others.

[specialmom]

I had a fever for 12 straight days with covid.  Not fun.  Then I had congestion a few days longer.  My doctor told me what Anniebrooke says . . .  I was told I needed to count the days of symptom onset and needed to be 10 days out at least from first onset of symptoms and 24 hours out from last day of fever.  So, once your fever subsides, wait 24 hours.  CDC is really clear on this information in terms of how long are you contagious.  I also think that after having covid, would guess some secondary infections should be watched out for.   Covid can linger.  I was surprised I had a fever day after day for so long.  Drink lots of water and get plenty of rest.  

[Paxiled]

Are you under a doctor's care?  I would consult my doctor about the fact you still have a daily fever.  Your doctor should also be able to tell you when you have recovered to the point you no longer need to quarantine, or at least give an educated guess, assuming your doctor is experienced at treating covid.

[AnnieBrooke]

Evidently you still need to quarantine. Here is from the Centers for Disease Control:
________________

"You can be around others after:
  -  10 days since symptoms first appeared,
and
   - 24 hours with no fever without the use of fever-reducing medications,
and
   -  other symptoms of COVID-19 are improving*

*Loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation​
____________________

It doesn't show here, but in the CDC website, the "and"s are in bold, meaning, all parts of the description must be there before you can come out of quarantine.