Self-Isolation Requirements

With the arrival of the Omicron variant, COVID-19 is now spreading in our community faster than it can be tested and detected. As a result, the Middlesex-London Health Unit has shifted its case investigation efforts to where they can be more effective in high-risk settings. This means that COVID-19 testing and follow up by the Middlesex-London Health Unit will not be available for the general public.

If you develop symptoms of COVID-19, test positive for COVID-19 on a PCR or Rapid Antigen Test, or are a close contact of someone with COVID-19, please review the information below for guidance. It's up to all of us to help blunt the spread of COVID-19.

Do you have symptoms of COVID-19?

If you are feeling unwell, take the COVID-19 Self-Assessment to determine if you have symptoms of COVID-19 and need to self-isolate. If you have symptoms, assume that you are positive for COVID-19 and follow the following self-isolation requirements which apply to you.

Do you live or or work in a high-risk setting?
If you live or work in a high-risk setting, please review additional information here.

You have symptoms and are concerned you may have COVID-19. Now what?

The image below was extracted from the Ontario Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 Integrated Testing and Case, Contact and Outbreak Management Interim Guidance: Omicron Surge (Page 12).

Have you tested positive for COVID-19?

If you do not have symptoms of COVID-19 but have tested positive for COVID-19 on a PCR or a Rapid Antigen Test, you are required to self-isolate. Follow the self-isolation requirements which apply to you.

If you test negative on a Rapid Antigen Test, but have symptoms of COVID-19, you and your household should self-isolate following the self-isolation requirements which apply to you.

Do you live or or work in a high-risk setting?
If you live or work in a high-risk setting, please review additional information here.

Do you live or work in a high-risk setting?

If you live or work in a high-risk setting and you either have symptoms of COVID-19 or have tested positive for COVID-19 on a PCR or Rapid Antigen Test, you must:

• Notify your employer.
• Do not return to your high-risk setting for 10 days after the date your symptoms started, or the date of your positive test, whichever is earlier, regardless of your vaccination status.
• Based upon staffing requirements, and in consultation with your employer, you may have the opportunity to return to work early on day seven of your isolation if you obtain a negative PCR test or two negative Rapid Antigen Tests on day six and seven of your isolation.

Are you a close contact of someone with COVID-19?

If someone informs you that they have COVID-19, either because they have symptoms or because they tested positive, and that you are a close contact and you don’t live with the person who had COVID-19, follow the requirements which apply to you.

You’ve been identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or someone with COVID-19 symptoms. Now what?

The image below was extracted from the Ontario Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 Integrated Testing and Case, Contact and Outbreak Management Interim Guidance: Omicron Surge (Page 16).

Definitions

Close Contact
A close contact is someone with whom you were within two metres’ distance for at least 15 minutes, or multiple shorter lengths of time, without personal protective equipment within the 48 hours before your symptoms started or you had your positive test, whichever came first.

High-risk Settings
High-risk settings include: hospitals and health care settings, including complex continuing care facilities and acute care facilities; congregate living settings, such as long-term care and retirement homes, First Nation elder care lodges, group homes, shelters, hospices, temporary foreign worker settings, and correctional institutions; and First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities.

Self-isolate
Self-isolation separates sick individuals with a contagious disease, like COVID-19, from people who are not sick to prevent the disease from spreading. Self-isolation requires an individual to:

• Stay home, unless you need to get tested or require emergency medical care.
• Do not use public transportation, taxis, or rideshares.
• Avoid contact with others.
• Do not have visitors unless they are essential.
• Stay in a separate room from others in your home, as much as possible, make sure shared rooms have good airflow, and use a separate bathroom if you have one
• Maintain physical distance
• Keep at least two metres distance and wear a mask if you are in a room with anyone else
• Others in a room with you should also wear a mask

For more information about how to self-isolate, please visit www.canada.ca.

Self-monitor
Self-monitoring yourself requires monitoring yourself for symptoms of COVID-19. If you are unsure if you have symptoms, take the COVID-19 Self-Assessment.

While you are monitoring yourself for symptoms, continue to follow public health guidance, including maintaining two metres of physical distance between you and everyone else, wearing a mask, and not visiting high-risk settings or people at risk of more severe illness, including seniors and people who are immunocompromised.

For more information about how to self-monitor, please download Public Health Ontario's How to Self-Monitor Fact Sheet (PDF).