With new, more contagious omicron subvariants spreading across the U.S., more people are asking for clarity on quarantine and isolation guidance should they be exposed to or test positive for COVID-19.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, guidance on quarantine and isolation has remained unchanged since March.

The BA.5 subvariant of omicron has shown an increased ability to get around the immunity built up in patients from COVID vaccines and boosters, and the illness has also shown an increased ability to cause positive tests for longer stretches, even if patients don't get as sick with the new variants.

Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said this week that despite the increased contagiousness, she doesn't think that the CDC will change its guidelines.

“I don’t anticipate changes to the isolation or quarantine protocols," she said. “[If you're vaccinated], the secondary part of your immune system kicks in and helps, but we’re seeing people staying positive for a little longer. So even if you’re not that sick, you can still spread COVID.”

Some COVID patients infected with the BA.5 subvariant have reported that they have continued testing positive for longer than with previous variants, but no studies have been completed to show whether or not the variant keeps patients infectious for longer periods of time.

Arwady said that the availability of tools like vaccines and COVID antivirals, such as Paxlovid, have helped the public to make large strides in keeping the virus at bay, even as each iteration of COVID seems to become progressively more infectious.

Though vaccines and medications should help to avoid any further major shutdowns or mitigations, according to Chicago's top doctor, a new variant could change that calculus at any point.

"We don’t need to be doing those sort of shutdown-type things in the absence of some scary new variant," she said. "I hope we never ever get there again, but it’s balancing the risk and benefit there.”

Currently, guidance says that any person who comes into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 should quarantine, but only if they're not up to date on vaccinations.

However, the CDC notes that those who had close contact, but are either up to date with vaccines or tested positive in the last 90 days, do not need to quarantine.

Close contact is defined by the CDC and the Illinois Department of Public Health as "someone who was less than 6 feet away from an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period."

Before diving into the latest quarantine guidelines, you'll need to know the difference between whether you must quarantine or isolate.

Those who believe they have been in contact with someone who has COVID and are unvaccinated should quarantine. Those who test positive, regardless of vaccination status, must isolate, according to the CDC.

If you come into close contact with someone with COVID-19, you should quarantine if you are not up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccines or are unvaccinated. For these individuals, the CDC and IDPH recommend you:

Those who are close contacts of someone with COVID but are up-to-date on their vaccinations or have had a confirmed case of COVID-19 within the last 90 days do not need to quarantine, but the CDC does recommend they wear a well-fitting mask around others for 10 days after their most recent exposure and get tested after at least five days.

According to the CDC, people who are positive for COVID should stay home until it's safe for them to be around others, including even other members of their home.

Health officials recommend a "sick room" or area for those who are infected and a separate bathroom, if possible.

But isolation may not just be for those who test positive. The CDC also recommends those who have symptoms of COVID-19 and are awaiting test results or have not yet been tested isolate, "even if they do not know if they have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19."

How do you end isolation?

So how do you calculate your isolation period?

According to the CDC, "day 0 is your first day of symptoms." That means that Day 1 is the first full day after your symptoms developed.

For those who test positive for COVID but have no symptoms, day 0 is the day of the positive test. Those who develop symptoms after testing positive must start their calculations over, however, with day 0 then becoming the first day of symptoms.

Under the CDC guidance, those in isolation should:

"You've gotta stay home for five days because typically those first five days are when you are the most contagious," Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said. "But in those days six to 10, some people still can be spreading virus."

If you're still getting a positive test after those six to 10 days, Arwady said you could still be contagious.

"Generally if their symptoms have resolved, they are very unlikely to still be spreading a lot of COVID. But if you still have a positive rapid test, make sure you are wearing a mask, consider isolating," Arwady said.

She clarified that the positive test applies more so to rapid results, as opposed to PCR. PCR COVID tests can stay positive for a "very long time" after recovering from the virus because they pick up on any dead infection.

Paxlovid, the antiviral drug to fight coronavirus, should bring down the severity of the virus, but could prolong the duration of infection.

The CDC urges those who have or may have COVID to watch for emergency warning signs and seek medical care immediately if they experience symptoms including:

"This list is not all possible symptoms," the CDC states. "Please call your medical provider for any other symptoms that are severe or concerning to you."