Question: Are quarantine and isolation the same thing?
Answer: No. The state Department of Health explained the difference in a post Thursday on its website: “Quarantine is for people who have been within 6 feet of a person with COVID-19 for 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period regardless of mask use. Isolation is for people who have tested positive for COVID-19 or who have COVID-19 symptoms, regardless of their vaccination status.”
Quarantine means staying home for five days. People who are fully vaccinated or boosted can skip quarantine if they don’t have any symptoms. However, they should follow the other quarantine guidelines, which include getting tested for COVID-19 on Day 5, wearing a mask around others for 10 days, and watching for symptoms for 14 days after being with the infected person. Anyone who develops symptoms or tests positive should immediately self-isolate, DOH says.
Isolation means staying home for at least five days, except to seek medical care if needed, and keeping away from other people and pets in the household. Stay in a separate room, use a separate bathroom and eat meals alone; don’t share personal items. If you had no symptoms or if symptoms resolved, you can end isolation after five days — but only if you are fever-free without taking fever-reducing medication, DOH says.
If you still have symptoms after five days, continue to isolate. Once isolation ends, continue to wear a mask around others for five more days.
Q: I had COVID-19, confirmed on a home test. I called my doctor but they said stay home and get better and call back if I got worse. I was fine, just a scratchy throat briefly, so I never called back. I stayed home 5 days as required. Now my boss wants a doctor’s note clearing me for work, but I never went to the doctor.
A: You might point your boss to guidance from DOH, which says that Hawaii employers, schools and other entities should not require a negative COVID-19 test, a clinician’s note, or a clearance letter to return to routine activities after a person has met isolation requirements (see previous question). The department says it doesn’t issue clearance letters.
To be clear, this advice doesn’t apply to travelers seeking a “recovered from COVID-19” exemption to Hawaii’s quarantine for domestic passengers. Those travelers are required to upload a copy of their positive COVID-19 lab test (an at-home antigen test wouldn’t qualify) and a signed letter from their medical provider confirming that they have recovered and may travel.
Auwe
Year after year the city says don’t put your whole Christmas tree at the curb, but people still do it. It looks terrible and won’t get picked up. — A reader
(Note: Honolulu County’s Department of Environmental Services does remind people annually about how to recycle or dispose of live Christmas trees after the holidays. Households on the three-cart system should cut up the tree so that it fits easily in the green cart (for green waste) with the lid closed. Trees with flocking or tinsel don’t go in the green cart. They should be cut up, bagged and placed in the gray cart. Households on manual collection routes should cut the tree into lengths up to 3 feet, bundle them and place them at the curb on collection day. People who don’t want to cut up their trees can drop them off whole at the nearest refuse convenience center (except for the Wahiawa Convenience Center) or at the Kapaa Transfer Station in Kailua, ENV says. For more information, see honolulu.gov/opala.)
Mahalo
I was at Windward Mall on Thursday and as I was going home, I realized that I didn’t have my car key. I went to the management office and they called the security office. A good Samaritan had turned it in. They didn’t leave a name and telephone number. If they did I would have called them to give thanks. I want to thank them very much. I am so grateful there are still honest people like them. — Senior citizen
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
