Contact Someone With COVID-19? Go Into Quarantine For 14 Days

People in the state of Washington who have had close contact with an individual who tested positive for COVID-19 will need to be quarantined for 14 days even if they have no symptoms.

Michigan is formulating its own contact-tracing plans that would track the locations and people visited by individuals who tests positive for the disease.

Under the Washington plan, the state won’t divulge the identity of the person who triggered a close contact's two-week isolation.

The state of Washington was one of the first states to implement "contact tracing." 

"Close contacts need to confine themselves at home for 14 days after the exposure and monitor for fever, cough and shortness of breath for the duration of confinement," Washington Gov. Jay Inslee's press release stated. "The state encourages testing of all close contacts, regardless of symptoms. Support is available for people who must confine at home."

The directive is part of the state of Washington's “contact tracing” phase that started May 12.

Washington residents who test positive for COVID-19 will be contacted by government employees who will ask questions about anyone they had recent contact.

Inslee said that individuals who have symptoms will need to be quarantined even before they test positive for COVID-19. Those with symptoms will have to remain quarantined until they get a negative test back. If an individual tests positive, that person and their household will have to be quarantined for 14 days.

Inslee wouldn't specify what sanctions there would be for people who refused to cooperate with contact tracing. He said, "It just shouldn't come to that, and it really hasn't. We've had really good success when we've asked people to isolate."