Household should isolate for 10 days if one person has COVID symptoms: Ottawa’s top doctor
CTV
The city of Ottawa's medical officer of health is holding fast to strict self-isolation guidelines for households in the wake of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, calling it the safest approach to limit transmission.
The 10-day isolation period for the entire household begins when one member of the household first develops symptoms or tests positive. If, after 10 days, no one else develops symptoms or tests positive, the isolation for the household ends, but it can go longer if more people get sick.
"If, in that 10 days, that the person who has tested positive is isolating, that nobody else gets a positive test or develops symptoms, then everyone can go after the 10 days," Medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches said in a press conference Wednesday, "but, if somebody else does become sick, then it starts over again."
Etches admits that this is very difficult, but the isolation guidance is the safest approach to reduce the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the city as testing capacity remains strained. She said common symptoms include respiratory symptoms like a cough or runny nose, or other symptoms like muscle aches or fatigue.
"The cluster of symptoms points you more in the direction of Omicron," she said, "but it is the most protective approach. If you have one of these symptoms, that is when we say it could be Omicron and we are asking people to stay home and isolate."
