The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has for the first time acknowledged a defined immunity period for people who have recovered from a COVID-19 infection, information included as part of broader advice about quarantining that was updated earlier this month.
Prior research has shown antibodies from recovered patients will fade over the course of a few months, but federal scientists had not previously said what that means for immunity. Now, the CDC’s updated guidance states that a person who has recovered from COVID-19 likely will be safe from reinfection for three months.
The CDC previously recommended that someone recovered from a COVID-19 infection doesn’t need to be tested again for three months so long as that person is asymptomatic but that any correlation to immunity was still unknown.
According to the agency, people who have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19 need to quarantine for 14 days, except people who have had COVID-19 within the past three months.
“People who have tested positive for COVID-19 do not need to quarantine or get tested again for up to three months as long as they do not develop symptoms again. People who develop symptoms again within three months of their first bout of COVID-19 may need to be tested again if there is no other cause identified for their symptoms,” the CDC said.
The CDC defines close contact as being within 6 feet of someone who has COVID-19 for 15 minutes or more, providing care at home to someone with COVID-19, having direct physical contact with a person with COVID-19, sharing eating or drinking utensils or having a COVID-19 patient sneeze, cough or otherwise get respiratory droplets on another person.
Quarantine is defined as staying home for 14 days after the last contact with someone who has COVID-19 while watching for symptoms, including fever, cough and shortness of breath. Those in quarantine should stay away from others as much as possible, especially people who are at higher risk of getting very sick from COVID-19.
CDC recommendations include staying home for 14 days after contact even if you test negative for the virus and feel healthy, as symptoms can appear two to 14 days after exposure.
A CDC spokesman clarified that while it is unlikely someone will get reinfected or infect others during the three-month period, “it’s important these individuals continue to social distance, wear masks and practice good hand hygiene until scientists know more about long-term immunity against COVID.”