Your child tested positive for COVID-19. Please start or continue home isolation for your child to avoid spreading the illness.

Please note that management of isolation of patients at Mass General Brigham facilities and other healthcare locations may differ from public health guidelines in the community.

You should check with your child’s school about returning to school.

Some household members may need to quarantine. See below for information for household members.

Home Isolation Instructions: 

Monitor your child’s symptoms, including the following:

  • Difficulty breathing that is worsening (flaring of nostrils; retractions – pulling or tugging of the skin between/below ribs; grunting; not able to speak in full sentences)
  • Confusion
  • Weakness
  • Signs of dehydration
  • In babies, no wet diapers for 8 hours
  • In children over age 3, no wet diapers or peeing for 10 hours
  • Extreme fatigue or tiredness or sleeping excessively
  • A fever over 102.4°F (39.1°C) that does not respond to fever medication or that lasts for more than 3 days.

If symptoms worsen, call your child’s pediatrician. If your child experiences a medical emergency and you need to call 911, notify the operator that your child has COVID-19. This will allow them to take proper precautions to protect everyone’s safety.

Stay home except to get essential medical care.
Your child should stay home except to get medical care.
Call ahead before medical visits to allow for COVID-19 precautions.

Separate your child from other people in your home.
If possible, pick one primary caregiver for your child.
The child should stay in one room as much as possible, away from other household members.
The child should use a separate bathroom if possible. If not, clean and disinfect the bathroom after each time your child uses it.

Maintain distance
Please do not allow any nonessential visitors in your home.
Everyone should wear a mask in the same room with your child.
Your child should also wear a mask around other people, even inside the home.
If your child cannot wear a mask, other people should wear a mask or stay outside the room where the child is under isolation.

Follow precautions with household surfaces, food preparation, dishes, and bedding
Clean all “high touch” surfaces (counters, tables, doorknobs, faucets, toilets, mobile devices, etc.) with household cleaning spray or wipes.
Your child should not prepare or serve food to others.
All dishes, glasses, cups, utensils, towels, and bedding must be washed with soap and water after your child uses these items.

Teach your child the following steps that everyone should follow:
Cover mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing, or cough or sneeze into the inside of the elbow if unable to use a tissue.
Throw used tissues away. Immediately wash hands. Use a trash can lined with a disposable bag.
Wash hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Rub the fronts and backs of hands, and the spaces between all fingers, the whole time. Then rinse with water.
If soap and water are not available, clean hands with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol, covering all surfaces of their hands and rubbing them together until dry.
Avoid touching eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

Ending isolation
Note: These guidelines are updated as of January 10, 2022. Please check mass.gov, covid19.nh.gov, (or your state’s website), cdc.gov, or your local Board of Health for the latest information.

Please note that your child’s isolation period does not get shorter if they received monoclonal antibody treatment or other outpatient therapies for COVID-19.

Severely ill or immunocompromised patients: If your child was severely ill with COVID-19 (i.e. was hospitalized or needed a breathing tube) or has a weakened immune system (immunocompromised), the Board of Health or your pediatrician may recommend an isolation period of up to 20 days since your child first got sick. Please check with your pediatrician on how long they should be on isolation.
Examples of immunocompromise include being on chemotherapy for cancer, being on immunosuppressive medications after transplant, having HIV with low CD4 count, having combined primary immunodeficiency disorder, or taking prednisone at a dose of 20mg/day or higher for more than 14 days.

Not severely ill or immunocompromised patients

Patients with symptoms

Isolation is at least 5 days from when your child first got sick. It will be longer if your child’s symptoms are not improving, if your child is not fever-free on day 5, or if your child gets tested towards the end of the 5-day isolation period and the test is positive.

Day 0 is the first day your child had symptoms.

The CDC provides the following guidance about when to end isolation as of January 10, 2022. Please check mass.gov, covid19.nh.gov, (or your state’s website), cdc.gov, or your local Board of Health for the latest information.

Your child can end isolation after 5 full days if they are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and other symptoms have improved.
Your child should continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others at home and in public for 5 additional days (day 6 through day 10) after the end of your child’s 5-day isolation period. If your child is unable to wear a mask when around others, your child should continue to isolate for a full 10 days. Your child should avoid people who are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe disease, and nursing homes and other high-risk settings, until after at least 10 days.
If your child continues to have a fever or your child’s other symptoms have not improved after 5 days of isolation, your child should wait to end isolation until your child is fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and your child’s other symptoms have improved. Your child should continue to wear a well-fitting mask. Contact your child’s pediatrician if you have questions.
Your child should not travel during the 5-day isolation period. After your child ends isolation, avoid travel until a full 10 days after your child’s first day of symptoms. If your child must travel on days 6-10, your child should wear a well-fitting mask when around others for the entire duration of travel. If your child is unable to wear a mask, your child should not travel during the 10 days.
Do not go to places where your child is unable to wear a mask, such as restaurants and some gyms, and your child should avoid eating around others at home and at work until a full 10 days after your child’s first day of symptoms.

If an individual has access to a test and wants to test, the best approach is to use an antigen test towards the end of the 5-day isolation period. Collect the test sample only if your child is fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and your child’s other symptoms have improved (loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation). If your child’s test result is positive, your child should continue to isolate until day 10. If your child’s test result is negative, your child can end isolation, but continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others at home and in public until day 10. Follow additional recommendations for masking and restricting travel as described above.

Patients without symptoms

Isolation is at least 5 days from your child’s positive test. It may be longer if your child develops symptoms or your child gets tested towards the end of the 5-day isolation period and the test is positive.

Day 0 is the day of your child’s positive test. If your child develops symptoms, please see instructions above.

The CDC provides the following guidance about when to end isolation as of January 10, 2022. Please check mass.gov, covid19.nh.gov, (or your state’s website), cdc.gov, or your local Board of Health for the latest information.

If your child continues to have no symptoms, your child can end isolation after at least 5 days.
Your child should continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others at home and in public until day 10 (day 6 through day 10). If your child is unable to wear a mask when around others, your child should continue to isolate for 10 days. Your child should avoid people who are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe disease, and nursing homes and other high-risk settings, until after at least 10 days.
If your child develops symptoms after testing positive, your child’s 5-day isolation period should start over. Day 0 is your child’s first day of symptoms. Follow the recommendations above for ending isolation for people who had COVID-19 and had symptoms.
Your child should not travel during the 5-day isolation period. After your child ends isolation, avoid travel until 10 days after the day of your child’s positive test. If your child must travel on days 6-10, your child should wear a well-fitting mask when around others for the entire duration of travel. If your child is unable to wear a mask, your child should not travel during the 10 days after your child’s positive test.
Do not go to places where your child is unable to wear a mask, such as restaurants and some gyms, and your child should avoid eating around others at home, school, daycare and at work until 10 days after the day of your child’s positive test.

If an individual has access to a test and wants to test, the best approach is to use an antigen test towards the end of the 5-day isolation period. If your child’s test result is positive, your child should continue to isolate until day 10. If your child’s test result is negative, your child can end isolation, but continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others at home and in public until day 10. Follow additional recommendations for masking and restricting travel described above.

Quarantine instructions for household members

In addition to your child’s home isolation, household members may need to quarantine. Quarantine for household members will depend on their vaccination status. Also, if you are able to isolate your child away from family members, household quarantine may start at the same time as isolation. If isolation is not possible, quarantine may last longer.

The CDC provides the following guidance about when to end isolation as of January 10, 2022. Please check mass.gov, covid19.nh.gov, (or your state’s website), cdc.gov, or your local Board of Health for the latest information.

What household members do not need to quarantine?

Those who are up-to-date* on COVID-19 vaccinations OR Those who had confirmed COVID-19 within the last 90 days (you tested positive using a viral test).

Please note that all children under 5 need to quarantine as there are no approved vaccines for this age group.

*CDC recommends that people remain up to date with their vaccines. This means:
People age 5 years and older should complete their primary vaccine series. Pfizer is currently the only vaccine approved for ages 5-17.
People age 12 and older should get a booster at the appropriate time (i.e. 5 months after completing primary vaccination with Moderna/Pfizer vaccines or 2 months after receiving Johnson & Johnson vaccine). Pfizer is currently the only vaccine approved for ages 5-17.
Moderately or severely immunocompromised patients age 5 and older who received Pfizer or Moderna vaccines for the primary series should receive an additional primary dose 28 days after the 2nd shot AND those who are age 12 and older should also get a booster shot in the recommended time frame.

They do not need to quarantine, however they should:
Watch for symptoms until 10 days after their last close contact with the child.
If they have symptoms, isolate immediately and get tested.
They should wear a well-fitting mask around others for 10 days from the date of their last close contact with the child (the date of last close contact is considered day 0).
If they have not had COVID-19 in the last 90 days, they should get tested at least 5 days after they last had close contact with the child. If they test positive or develop COVID-19 symptoms, they should isolate from other people and follow recommendations for isolation.
If they tested positive for COVID-19 with a viral test within the previous 90 days and subsequently recovered and remain without COVID-19 symptoms, they do not need to quarantine or get tested after close contact. They should wear a well-fitting mask around others for 10 days from the date of their last contact with the child (the date of last close contact is considered day 0).

What household members do need to quarantine?

Those who are NOT up-to-date* on COVID-19 vaccinations or those under age 5 as there are no approved vaccines for this age group.

*CDC recommends that people remain up to date with their vaccines. This means:
People age 5 years and older should complete their primary vaccine series. Pfizer is currently the only vaccine approved for ages 5-17.
People age 12 and older should get a booster at the appropriate time (i.e. 5 months after completing primary vaccination with Moderna/Pfizer vaccines or 2 months after receiving Johnson & Johnson vaccine). Pfizer is currently the only vaccine approved for ages 5-17.
Moderately or severely immunocompromised patients age 5 and older who received Pfizer or Moderna vaccines for the primary series should receive an additional primary dose 28 days after the 2nd shot AND those who are age 12 and older should also get a booster shot in the recommended time frame.

Household members on quarantine should:

  • Stay home and away from other people for at least 5 days (day 0 through day 5) after their last contact with the child. The date of their last contact is considered day 0. They should wear a well-fitting mask when around others at home, if possible.
  • Monitor symptoms. For 10 days after their last close contact with the child, they should watch for fever (100.4 degrees F or greater), cough, shortness of breath, or other COVID-19 symptoms.
  • If they develop symptoms, they should get tested immediately and isolate until they receive test results. If they test positive, they should follow isolation recommendations.
  • If they do not develop symptoms, they should get tested at least 5 days after they last had close contact with the child.
  • If they test negative, they can leave home, but continue to wear a well-fitting mask when around others at home and in public until 10 days after their last close contact with the child.
  • If they test positive, they should follow the instructions above for when to end isolation.
  • If they are unable to get a test 5 days after last close contact with the child, they can leave home after day 5 if they have been without COVID-19 symptoms throughout the 5-day period. They should wear a well-fitting mask for 10 days after the date of last close contact when around others at home and in public.
  • They should avoid people who are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe disease, nursing homes, and other high-risk settings until after at least 10 days.
  • If possible, stay away from people they live with, especially people who are at higher risk for getting very sick from COVID-19, as well as others outside the home throughout the full 10 days after their last close contact with the child.
  • If they are unable to quarantine, they should wear a well-fitting mask for 10 days when around others at home and in public.
  • If they are unable to wear a mask when around others (i.e. young children), they should continue to quarantine for 10 days. They should avoid people who are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe disease, and nursing homes and other high-risk settings, until after at least 10 days.
  • They should not travel during the 5-day quarantine period. They should get tested at least 5 days after their last close contact with the child and make sure the test result is negative and they remain without symptoms before traveling. If they don’t get tested, they should delay travel until 10 days after their last contact with the child. If they must travel before the 10 days are completed, they should wear a well-fitting mask when they are around others for the entire duration of travel during the 10 days. If they are unable to wear a mask, they should not travel during the 10 days.
  • They should not go to places where they are unable to wear a mask, such as restaurants and some gyms, and they should avoid eating around others at home and at work until after 10 days after their last close contact with the child.