Who is a close contact?
A close contact is a person who has been in contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19 for at least 15 minutes at a distance less than two metres.
Examples of close contacts are:
- a person living in the same household as a person diagnosed with COVID-19 (e.g. family members);
- a person who has had a direct physical contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19 (for example, shaking hands);
- a person who has been in direct contact with the secretions of a person diagnosed with COVID-19 without the use of protective equipment (e.g. the person diagnosed with COVID-19 coughed on them, a person who touched the napkin of the person diagnosed with COVID-19 with bare hands);
- a person who has been in the same room (e.g. classroom, meeting room, hospital waiting room, work room, etc.) as a person diagnosed with COVID-19, where there is insufficient ventilation and/or personal protective equipment is not used and there is a risk of exposure to the virus.
People who have contracted COVID-19 are infectious for about two days before and up to ten days after the onset of symptoms.
What to do if you are a close contact?
A close contact is considered to be a person who has been in contact with a COVID-19 positive person for at least 15 minutes and closer than two meters. The contact time is calculated as a total during 24 hours (e.g. 5 minutes in the morning, 5 minutes during the afternoon, and 5 minutes in the evening makes a total of 15 minutes). A person who has COVID-19 is infectious for about 2 days prior to and up to 10 days after becoming symptomatic.
For instance, a close contact is a person who:
- lives in the same household with a person who has COVID-19 (e.g. family members);
- has been in physical contact with a person who has COVID-19 (e.g. shaking hands);
- has been in direct contact with the bodily fluids of a person who has COVID-19 without using protective equipment (e.g. has been coughed on, used a patient's paper tissue with bare hands);
- has been in the same room with a person who has COVID-19 (e.g. classroom, conference room, waiting room of a hospital, work room etc.), if the room does not have adequate ventilation and/or personal protective equipment was not used, and there is a risk of coming in contact with the virus.
After a close contact with a person who has COVID-19 it is recommended to monitor your health within five days. If symptoms occur, you should stay at home.
The same principle applies for all upper respiratory tract infections.
After a close contact with a person who has COVID-19 it is recommended to monitor your health within five days. If symptoms occur, you should stay at home.
The same principle applies for all upper respiratory tract infections.
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Last updated: 28.11.2023
