What to know
- CDC’s Respiratory Virus Guidance provides strategies you can use to help protect yourself and others from health risks caused by COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses.
- These actions can help you lower the risk of COVID-19 transmission (spreading or catching COVID-19) and lower the risk of severe illness if you get sick.
Core Prevention Strategies
CDC recommends that all people use core prevention strategies to protect themselves and others from COVID-19:
- Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines.
- Although vaccinated people sometimes get infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, staying up to date on COVID-19 vaccines significantly lowers the risk of getting very sick, being hospitalized, or dying from COVID-19.
- Although vaccinated people sometimes get infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, staying up to date on COVID-19 vaccines significantly lowers the risk of getting very sick, being hospitalized, or dying from COVID-19.
- Practice good hygiene (practices that improve cleanliness)
- Take steps for cleaner air
When you are sick:
- Use precautions to prevent spread, including staying home and away from others (including people you live with who are not sick) if you have respiratory symptoms.
- Learn when you can go back to your normal activities.
- Learn when you can go back to your normal activities.
- Seek health care promptly for testing and/or treatment if you have risk factors for severe illness. Treatment may help lower your risk of severe illness, but it needs to be started within a few days of when your symptoms begin.
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Additional Prevention Strategies
In addition, there are other prevention strategies that you can choose to further protect yourself and others.
- Wearing a mask and putting distance between yourself and others can help lower the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
- Testing for COVID-19 can help you decide what to do next, like getting treatment to reduce your risk of severe illness and taking steps to lower your chances of spreading COVID-19 to others.
What to watch out for
Using these prevention strategies can be especially helpful when:
- Respiratory viruses, such as COVID-19, flu, and RSV, are causing a lot of illness in your community
- You or those around you have risk factors for severe illness
- You or those around you were recently exposed to a respiratory virus, are sick, or are recovering
Check Your Community
Find out if respiratory viruses are causing a lot of illness in your community. Data updated weekly.