Californians Can Now Return to Work, School After Testing Positive for COVID Without Symptoms

A boy receives a free COVID-19 test at a St. John’s Well Child & Family Center mobile clinic set up outside Walker Temple AME Church in South Los Angeles amid the coronavirus pandemic in Los Angeles on July 15, 2020. Mario Tama/Getty Images

The California Department of Public Health last week released a new guideline relaxing isolation requirements for individuals testing positive for COVID-19.

Under the new guideline, individuals who tested positive can return to the office or school if they have no symptoms. Such a change is due to the large scale of community immunity, according to the health department.

“We are now at a different point in time with reduced impacts from COVID-19 compared to prior years, due to broad immunity from vaccination and/or natural infection, and readily available treatments for infected people,” Tomás J. Aragón, director of the health department, wrote in the Jan. 9 guidelines.

According to the department, those who have mild symptoms are required to stay home until they have not had a fever for a 24-hour period and show signs of improvement. Previous guidelines required isolating for at least five days.

Additionally, individuals recovering from symptoms are advised by the department to wear masks and refrain from contact with those at a higher risk of severe COVID-19 for 10 days.

Locally, Oakland Unified School District was one of the first to adopt the new guidelines. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, which oversees workplace safety, also adopted the new guidelines.

“Our policies and priorities for intervention are now focused on protecting those most at risk for serious illness, while reducing social disruption that is disproportionate to recommendations for prevention of other endemic respiratory viral infections,” Mr. Aragón said.