I Have to Quarantine for How Long? And Other COVID-19 Questions Answered

By Kelley Christensen, Michigan Tech University science and technology publications writer
Posted Sept. 2, 2020, on Michigan Tech News
Reprinted in part with permission

This graphic shows the timeline for a COVID-19 infection, disease incubation period, and time it takes to spread to another person. Typically a person who has been infected with COVID-19 becomes infectious to others two days prior to onset of symptoms (even if they are extremely mild and are not noticeable to the infected person). For health officials, quarantining people whom contact tracers have identified as possibly infected prior to when symptoms appear is crucial to slow the spread of COVID-19. A person is infectious as long as they have symptoms. Click on image for larger version. (Graphic courtesy Michigan Tech University)

In this interview, we speak with epidemiologist Kelly Kamm about virus latency, isolation versus quarantine, contact tracing, and why medical guidelines continue to change.

Kelly Kamm is an epidemiologist and assistant professor of kinesiology and integrative physiology at Michigan Tech University. Kamm’s expertise has been vital to informing the University’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, she explains some of the more complicated aspects of COVID-19 in a college setting. Inset photo: Kelly Kamm. (Photo courtesy Michigan Tech University)

How Long Am I Contagious?

Q: What is the latency period of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19?

KK: The virus can take between two and 14 days for someone to develop symptoms or test positive from the time they are exposed. This is called the incubation period. Many factors impact the range of the incubation period. If you were exposed on Monday the 1st and had a COVID-19 test on the 5th, only about half the people who are infected will have a positive test or have symptoms at that time. Just because you test negative on day five does not mean that you are not infected; you could still test positive up to 14 days after the exposure.

What’s the Difference Between Isolation and Quarantine?

Q: How does the incubation period relate to how long a person needs to isolate or quarantine?

KK: If someone tests positive for the virus -- whether or not they have symptoms -- they are infected and must be isolated. Their time in separation is based on the infectious period, which is how long they are able to spread the disease to other people. The infectious period differs between individuals, but can be determined based on their symptoms and whether those symptoms are resolving, or a specified time period if they tested positive but never develop any symptoms.

Q: So, what’s the minimum a person would need to isolate if they have no symptoms?

Click here to read the rest of this interview on Michigan Tech News.