Isolating after a positive Covid Test-Rules

E30M3 · 02-09-2020 3:27pm #1

Good afternoon

I am looking for clarity re the above. I am unclear what the rules are and surprisingly I don't feel the HSE Website is clear.

If you are tested as a close contact and get a positive result how long do you need to isolate for? I thought it was 14 days from the day of the positive test but the HSE Website only states

You’ll need to continue to self-isolate until both of these apply:

you have had no fever for 5 days
it has been 14 days since you first developed symptoms

This to me is ambiguous as the person can say they have no symptoms and no fever and can therefore move about freely and return to normal activities?

Am I missing a piece?

Jim_Hodge · 02-09-2020 4:00pm

Until BOTH apply. Seems clear enough. Take a positive test as being equivalent to a symptom.

wheresthebeef · 02-09-2020 9:54pm

It’s a minimum of 14 days, providing the last 5 of which you have had no fever. I’ve had patients who had to stay in isolation for up to 23 days as they kept having high temperatures intermittently. Essentially, if your body has not produced a temperature for 5 days, your active infection is over and you are unlikely to spread the virus further. You do however need to bear in mind that if you are gobbling paracetamol and ibuprofen, you could artificially suppress your temperature which would not be a good thing as you might think you are better when in fact you are not. So ideally it should be 5 days fever free without the use of antipyretics (Paracetamol and Ibuprofen).
If you are asymptomatic, it’s 14 days from the day your swab was taken.

Isolating after a positive Covid Test-Rules

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