What is Self-Isolation?
Self-isolation means you must stay home and isolate away from others in the home as much as possible. Only leave if it’s a medical emergency or if permitted by TBDHU. You should not have visitors unless it’s essential (e.g. health care providers).
When to Self-Isolate
To determine whether you need to self-isolate and for how long, please visit the Ministry of Health's Ontario.ca/exposed page:
Confirm if you need to Self-Isolate
How to Self-Isolate
For details on how to self-isolate, including what you can and cannot do, see Public Health Ontario's fact sheet:
How Long to Self-Isolate
How long your self-isolation period is depends on your age, vaccination status and where you work. Follow the instructions at Ontario.ca/exposed.
When determining your isolation period, the day your symptoms began, the day you tested positive or the day you were exposed to an individual with COVID-19 or with symptoms, (whichever came first) is day 0.
For example, for those isolating for 5 days, if you develop symptoms on Sunday (day 0), you can come out of self-isolation on Saturday (day 6). See the video below for further explanation.
When you reach the end of your isolation period, you can come out of self-isolation IF you do not have a fever AND your symptoms have been improving for at least 24 hours (48 hours for nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea).
Be Prepared to Self-Isolate
For information on what items to have on hand, as well as plans to have in place should you and your household need to self-isolate, see the TBDHU's Emergency Preparedness page:
Additional Resources
- Provincial Testing and Isolation Information Line: 1-888-777-0730
- COVID-19 What To Do While Waiting for Your Test Results - TBDHU (PDF)
- COVID-19 - How to Self-Isolate - Public Health Ontario (PDF)
- COVID-19 - Self-Isolation for Caregivers, Household Members and Close Contacts - Public Health Ontario (PDF)
- Auto-isolement : Guide à l’intention des fournisseurs de soins, des membres du ménage et des contacts étroits - COVID-19 - Santé Publique Ontario (PDF)
- Coping with Isolation During COVID-19 (PDF)
- Coping with Isolation During COVID-19 - Post-Secondary Students (PDF)
- Coping with Isolation During COVID-19 - Families & Children (PDF)