On March 10, 2021, the Department of Health updated quarantine protocols for people exposed to COVID-19 (the Quarantine Protocols). You may find the Quarantine Protocols here. The Quarantine Protocols do not reflect the most recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As a result, there are discrepancies between the guidance issued by New York and the most recent federal guidance. We discuss the updated document, and where it differs from CDC recommendations, below.
Quarantine Protocols:
Under the Quarantine Protocols, certain individuals no longer need to quarantine after an exposure to COVID-19. Individuals do not need to quarantine if:
- The individual is fully vaccinated, which is defined as having two weeks pass since the receipt of the second dose in a two-dose vaccine or having two weeks pass since the receipt of one dose of a single-dose vaccine; AND
- The individual is within three months following the receipt of the last dose; AND
- The individual remains asymptomatic since the last COVID-19 exposure.
If an individual does not meet all of the above criteria and has been exposed to a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19, they must quarantine. All individuals who have been exposed to COVID-19 must self-monitor for symptoms for at least 14 days from the exposure. If the individual remains asymptomatic, they need only quarantine for 10 days. If the individual develops symptoms, they must quarantine for at least 10 days from the onset of symptoms.
The Quarantine Protocols differ from the March 8, 2021 CDC guidance. Under that guidance, fully vaccinated asymptomatic individuals who received the vaccine more than three months ago do not need to quarantine. New York requires fully vaccinated asymptomatic individuals be within that three-month range to avoid quarantine.
Additionally, asymptomatic individuals who were diagnosed with COVID-19 within the past three months and have since recovered do not need to retest and quarantine if exposed to COVID-19. The three-month period begins either on the date of symptom onset or the date of the first positive diagnostic test if the individual remains asymptomatic.
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