Like COVID vaccination cards and social distancing signs, many of the precautions and etiquette that were so strictly observed during the height of the pandemic have been thrown out the window. One such practice? The practice of notifying everyone you’ve been in contact with if you test positive for COVID-19.
“The dynamics and the frequency of exposure disclosures have changed, and probably rightly so,” Dr. Mindy Sampson, an assistant professor of infectious diseases at Stanford University, tells Yahoo Life. “I think we’re in a very different position in the pandemic than we were in 2019, 2020.”
But with COVID cases surging over the summer — including most recently President Biden — what responsibilities do people now have when it comes to sharing information if they test positive for COVID?
Why aren’t people sharing that they have COVID?
According to experts, there are likely a number of factors that are bringing about the social change.
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We know more about COVID now than we did in 2020. “As knowledge grows, treatments emerge, and the pathogen mutates to become less virulent, the rules we use to guide us change,” Dr. John McGeehan, a bioethicist and physician at Rowan University, tells Yahoo Life.
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More people have immunity. Whether it’s through vaccines or previous infections, more people are now somewhat protected from the virus than they were at the beginning of the pandemic. That means that interacting with someone while you’re contagious doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll infect them. “In the beginning, if you were in close contact with someone [while contagious]that would probably lead to an infection,” Sampson said. “But now sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t, so I think people probably feel like they’re not personally responsible for it.”
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Contact tracing is more difficult. Sampson also points out that when people were still social distancing, it was easy to reach out to the few people in your COVID bubble to let them know if you tested positive. But now that our social circles have expanded again, it’s harder to do in-person contact tracing and notify everyone you may have come into contact with.
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There is talk of ‘COVID fatigue’. Many Americans may simply be tired of the COVID precautions that were enforced earlier in the pandemic. “I think it’s kind of dropped in priority, a little bit relative to other diseases,” Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, tells Yahoo Life. “COVID has kind of disappeared from the national conversation because of COVID exhaustion.”
What should you do if you test positive?
Some people may feel protective and reluctant to share their personal health information with others. Confidentiality is taken very seriously in health care, McGeehan says, and patient autonomy “is a core pillar of medical ethics.”
Still, Caplan believes people should feel morally obligated to share certain diagnoses with others, including COVID.
“There are tests that are private, and then there are tests for diseases that are harmful to others through infection,” he says. “So I don’t think you need to show your cancer test results, but I do think if you are HIV positive, COVID positive, herpes positive, you should definitely tell others and try to avoid exposure.”
While certain diagnoses, such as sexually transmitted infections, can carry stigma, Caplan notes that you really have nothing to lose by telling others you have COVID.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently has no guidance on how to inform others if you test positive.
“CDC previously updated its guidance to focus on the core measures that provide the most protection against respiratory viruses,” the agency said in an email to Yahoo Life. “There is no specific guidance on how to notify others if you test positive for COVID-19. The updated guidance emphasizes the importance of staying home and away from others if you are sick with respiratory viruses, regardless of the virus, as well as additional preventive measures.”
While reporting that you have COVID-19 may no longer be a requirement or social obligation as it was at the beginning of the pandemic, Sampson says it’s probably still a good idea.
“I think it’s a nice gesture, especially if you have someone you’ve been with for a while,” she says.
Experts say that’s especially true if you’ve had contact with someone at higher risk for complications from the virus, or someone who could transmit COVID to other high-risk people. That includes:
“I believe that anyone who unknowingly exposes a high-risk patient who could become seriously ill should alert that person so that they can get treatment sooner,” McGeehan said. “We need to protect those who can’t protect themselves. That’s part of the medical ethics principle of social justice.”
In addition to warning others, experts say there are other tried-and-true steps you can take to protect others if you are sick:
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Stay home. “If you’re sick, it’s the responsible and kind thing to do to not be around people,” Sampson says. “Whether it’s COVID, the flu, RSV, you probably don’t want to expose your coworkers, your friends to [or] people in public.” Once you have been fever-free and symptom-free for at least 24 hours, you no longer need to stay home.
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Wear a mask when around others. If you must go out while you are still contagious, wear a mask to protect others, especially around people who are at high risk.
