Covid-19: How Long People Stay Contagious Even After Recovering From Coronavirus?

The situation is slowly turning into a health emergency state as the Covid-19 virus is rapidly spreading among the people. Be it Indian or US, the positive cases are growing at a higher rate making all of us go worried.

Well, one question which needs to be cleared about this pandemic is, "How Long People Stay Contagious Even After Recovering From Coronavirus?"

Well, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), health officials suggest that, if a person is suffering from Covid-19 symptoms or tested positive, he needs to stay at home and quarantine himself until and unless he needs medical care. And if they need to step out, wearing a mask which covers nose and mouth is a must. One needs to follow the same rules if they are at home also to stop spreading it to others.

But the question is, how long should one follow these precautions after they get recovered from this deadly virus?

Well, according to Infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, MD, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Maryland, one should follow these precautions at least for 10 days even after getting recovered from the virus. Even CDC's recommends the patients who get recovered from Covid-19 should be isolated for 10 days and at least three days from fever resolution and improvement in respiratory symptoms.

Even the Epidemiologist Supriya Narasimhan, MD, division chief of infectious diseases and medical director of infection prevention at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, in California also expresses the same opinion… "This is supported by the WHO (World Health Organization), and I should add that no secondary spread or transmission has been seen after following this guideline,"

However, scientists and health officials are discovering new changes in the virus time to time and thus Dr. Narasimham advises recovered people can be contagious for up to 21 days. He doled out this information after considering a Chinese study.

He says, "I bring this up to show that the information on this virus is constantly evolving and we learn more each day. It is fair to say that sicker people will take longer to recover from their symptoms as well and will need to stay isolated to prevent transmission to others for a longer period until they have shown symptom improvement as per the CDC recommendation."

Health officials also suggest people who have recovered from Covid-19 to ask their doctors and follow CDC guidelines and decide when can they be free from isolation. They also advise that, even after they are free from Isolation, they need to wear a mask and take preventive measures to stop the spread of the virus.

Dr Narasinhan also says, "They should maintain a distance of six feet from others when possible, practice meticulous hand hygiene and cover their nose and mouth with a face covering or mask. The face-covering is probably the most important of the three because it provides source control in other words, it prevents infectious particles that may come out of a person's mouth when they cough, sneeze or talk from getting into the surrounding airspace."

"It's important that all of us—including those who have recovered from COVID-19 maintain these safety precautions until we stop the spread of this pandemic," He adds.