Here’s what to do if you think you were exposed to someone with coronavirus

The number of diagnosed coronavirus cases is rising by as much as 20,000 a day across the globe, according to Johns Hopkins University, increasing the likelihood of meeting an infected person or living with one.

As a result, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments nationwide have issued guidelines defining what counts as “exposure” and advising what steps to take if it happens to you.

What counts as exposure?

Living with a sick person or caring for one are the easiest ways to become infected.

However, the Washington State Department of Health says people can get the virus from strangers by “being within 6 feet of a sick person with COVID-19 for about 10 minutes, or being in direct contact with secretions from a sick person.”

That includes being coughed on, kissed and sharing something they touched, the department says.

If that happened to you, the department advises watching “for fever, cough and shortness of breath during the 14 days after the last day you were in close contact with the sick person.”

High fever is generally anything at 100.4°F (38°C) or higher, the Virginia Department of Health reports. “Stay home and avoid contact with others for 14 days from last contact,” Virginia officials said in a release on the virus.

If you believe you have the virus, contact your doctor or the county health department, experts advise.

Suspect someone is infected?

To avoid being infected by people in public, the Centers for Disease Control recommends the following, beyond safe social distancing of six feet:

• Do not share objects. Avoid contact with “high-touch surfaces” others may have touched, such as handles, sinks, hardback chairs, light switches and doorknobs.

• Avoid pets belonging to an infected individual. Also, “limit your animal’s contact with other people and animals. This may mean keeping them indoors,” according to the Canadian Public Health officials.
• Do not eat in the same room with an infected person.
• If you order take out or food delivery, “clean hands after handling used food service items,” the CDC says.
• Avoid people who don’t “follow good respiratory hygiene” in public, the World Health Organization says. “This means covering your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately,” WHO says.yeah

Someone in your home is infected

If someone in your home has the virus, the CDC advises:

• Have the person stay in one room, away from other people as much as possible.

• If possible, designate a separate bathroom for the sick person.
• Avoid sharing linens of any kind (towels, sheets, washcloths), along with dishes and utensils.
• Sick persons should wear a face mask when in the room with other people.

• “Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after interacting with the sick person. If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Cover all surfaces of your hands and rub them together until they feel dry,” the CDC says.

• Try to avoid touching your face as much as possible around the sick person, especially touching “eyes, nose, and mouth” without washing your hands first.
• Dedicate a trash can specifically to the sick person’s waste, including a liner. Use gloves when removing their trash. “Wash hands after handling or disposing of trash,” the CDC says.

• Using gloves, remove laundry that may have come into contact with a sick and wash, without shaking.

• Wash hands after touching your pets.

This story was originally published March 23, 2020 at 10:35 AM with the headline "Here’s what to do if you think you were exposed to someone with coronavirus."