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COVID-19: When You Are Sick

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Picture of someone making a call on a cell phone. Text: Got COVID-19 symptoms? Act Fast! Get tested. Get treatment. Get better. Treatment works best the sooner you start.

People who get COVID-19 should follow the below steps to protect others and get treatment to reduce the risk of serious illness.


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1. Get Tested

Get tested if you have COVID-19 symptoms or if you were recently exposed to someone with COVID-19.

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2. Stay Home and Protect Others

Stay home until you have no fever for 24 hours without taking fever-reducing medicine and other COVID-19 symptoms are getting better.

Take steps to protect others in your household, including wearing a well-fitting mask, staying in a separate room as much as possible, increasing ventilation, cleaning frequently touched surfaces and following good hand hygiene.

Tell people you have been in close contact with that you have COVID-19 so they can get tested and take steps to protect others.

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3. Talk to a Provider About Treatment

COVID-19 treatments can lower the amount of virus in your body, reduce symptoms and help you avoid hospitalization. Treatment works best when you start it soon after you become sick, so it is important to get tested right away if you have symptoms.

Only a health care provider can prescribe treatment. If your provider decides treatment can help you, they may prescribe oral antivirals, which are taken for five days. Those unable to take oral antivirals may be able to get other types of treatment.

If you test positive, call your health care provider to ask about treatment options. If you do not have a health care provider, call 212-COVID19 (212-268-4319) or visit NYC Health + Hospitals ExpressCare.

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4. Take Care of Yourself

Even if you do not have symptoms, rest. Take your temperature regularly and be alert to changes in symptoms. If you have a medical emergency, such as trouble breathing, call 911 or go to a hospital.

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5. Leaving Home

You can leave home and resume routine activities such as work and school if you have no fever for 24 hours without taking fever-reducing medicine and other COVID-19 symptoms are getting better.

Once you have returned to your usual activities, take the precautions below for the next 5 days. If you never had symptoms but tested positive for COVID-19 or another respiratory virus, take the same precautions for the next 5 days.

  • Wear a well-fitting mask that covers both your nose and mouth whenever you are around other people.
  • Continue to keep a distance from others, especially those at higher risk of serious illness. This includes people age 65 and older, people who have a weakened immune system and people with underlying health conditions that increase the risk of serious illness.
  • When you are indoors and around others, take steps to improve ventilation if you can, such as opening windows and using an exhaust fan.
  • Practice good hygiene by covering coughs and sneezes, washing your hands often, using hand sanitizer and cleaning frequently touched surfaces.
  • If you develop a fever or you start to feel worse after you have gone back to normal activities, stay home and away from others again until, for at least 24 hours, your symptoms are improving overall, and you have not had a fever (and are not taking fever-reducing medicine). Then, follow the above additional precaution for the next 5 days.

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