KALAMAZOO, MI – Kalamazoo County Health & Community Services Department announced that as of Tuesday, May 11, the county transitioned to a 10-day quarantine from a 14-day quarantine for exposed people to COVID-19.
The change is retroactive; therefore, Kalamazoo County residents currently in quarantine can reduce their quarantine length from 14 to 10 days. The reduced quarantine time is consistent with steps other local public health departments have taken in the State of Michigan, the county health department said in a news release.
It is recommend that people who are quarantined monitor for symptoms through day 14 after quarantine begins. Quarantine periods may end after 10 days, as long as no symptoms have developed and there are no ongoing household exposure. A 10-day quarantine period does not apply to those residing in congregate living settings or who work with individuals in high-risk groups, the news release states.
While the CDC does recommend a 14-day quarantine duration, in December the agency announced that quarantine could end after day 10 without testing and if no symptoms have been reported during daily monitoring. Modeling data from the CDC indicate that 10-day and 14-day quarantines both substantially reduce the risk of an infected person transmitting COVID-19 to others. Although case rates are still significantly elevated within Kalamazoo County, the latest countywide data demonstrates a decreasing trend over the last 28 days in case rate the news release states.
Individuals cannot test out of quarantine. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Kalamazoo County Health & Community Services Department do not recommend the CDC’s option to reduce quarantine to after day 7 if a person receives a negative test result.
Two groups do not need to quarantine after a COVID-19 exposure if persons remain without symptoms:
• Fully vaccinated individuals, defined as those in which more than two weeks has passed since their final COVID-19 vaccine dose
• Persons who have had COVID-19 within the last 90 days
To date, 241,063 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to Kalamazoo County residents. This represents 56.6% of residents over the age of 16 who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to date and 48.8% have completed the vaccination series, the health department said.
“While looking at the decreasing case rate trend coupled with the current vaccination rates, we are encouraged with the progress our county is making,” said Jim Rutherford, Health Office of Kalamazoo County. “The 14-day quarantine can be challenging for schools, businesses and families. Given the latest data, we believe now is the time that we can reduce to a 10-day quarantine and still be protective of public health.”
For more information about COVID-19, visit www.kalcounty.com/covid19 or call 269-373-5200. To find vaccination clinic closes to you, visit www.vaccines.gov.
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