Questions about COVID-19?

Clark County Public Health call center: 888.225.4625 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday.

Washington State Department of Health COVID-19 assistance hotline: 800.525.0127 6 am to 10 pm Monday, 6 am to 6 pm Tuesday through Sunday and state-observed holidays.

Language assistance is available for both lines.

Washington state reopening

Washington state reopened on Wednesday, June 30, 2021.

The reopening removed distancing requirements and capacity restrictions on nearly all businesses and industries. The state Secretary of Health order requiring face coverings in public places, however, remains in place.

Beginning June 30, all businesses and industries previously covered by the Roadmap to Recovery or the Safe Start plan, except for large indoor venues, can return to usual capacity and operations. Businesses must continue to follow workplace safety guidelines issued by the Department of Labor & Industries.

Large indoor events – those with more than 10,000 people – are limited to 75% capacity, unless vaccination verification is occurring. The restriction on large indoor events will be re-evaluated on July 31.

The Secretary of Health order requiring face coverings remains in place – but has been amended.

Under the state order, people who are not fully vaccinated need to continue to wear face coverings in indoor public settings. Businesses can continue to require masks for everyone – regardless of vaccination status.

No one is required to wear a face covering outdoors. People who are not fully vaccinated are encouraged to wear masks in crowded outdoor settings where it’s harder to maintain physical distancing.

Everyone, even those who are fully vaccinated, is required to wear masks in certain settings: child care facilities, camps and K-12 schools, health care settings, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and public transportation.

Additional resources are available on the COVID-19 resources page.

COVID-19 cases and close contacts

​What to expect if you test positive

Health care providers notify Clark County Public Health every time someone tests positive for COVID-19. After receiving the report, Public Health calls the sick person to see how they are doing. We ask them to isolate at home until they are no longer considered contagious. This is to ensure they don’t spread the virus to others.

Those who test positive and have symptoms of COVID-19 can end isolation when:

• they’ve been fever-free for at least 24 hours without using fever-reducing medicine AND
• other symptoms are improving AND
• at least 10 days have passed since symptoms began.

Those who test positive but do not have symptoms can end isolation when:

• at least 10 days have passed since the date of their first positive test AND
• they have not developed symptoms of COVID-19

See the handout, What to do if you have confirmed or suspected COVID-19, for additional guidance.

Public Health also asks everyone who tests positive to notify anyone they were in close contact with that they may have been exposed to COVID-19.

What to do if you're in close contact with someone who tests positive

Those who had close contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19 may be at risk of getting sick. This includes close contact that occurred in the two days before the sick person’s symptoms began up until the sick person began isolating. Close contacts include everyone who:

• was within 6 feet of the sick person for more than 15 minutes
• was near the sick person’s coughs or sneezes
• lives in the same home as the sick person
• cared for the sick person

Those who have been exposed to COVID-19 can develop symptoms 2 to 14 days after being exposed. Public Health recommends people who were in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 stay home for 14 days so if they develop symptoms, they don’t get others sick.

Close contacts should stay home (quarantine) and monitor themselves for symptoms of COVID-19. People in quarantine should not go to work, school, child care or church, or participate in other social or community activities.

People who live or work in a high-priority setting should quarantine for the full 14-day period, due to the increased risk for a potential outbreak in congregate settings. High-priority settings include long-term care facilities, health care facilities, food processing facilities, the jail, schools and child care facilities.

People who are in quarantine and do not live or work in a high-priority setting may shorten their quarantine in the following circumstances:

• If a person who is in quarantine has no symptoms, quarantine can end after Day 10.
• If a person who is in quarantine receives a negative COVID-19 test and has no symptoms, quarantine can end after Day 7. The person must be tested on or after Day 5, and quarantine cannot be discontinued earlier than Day 8. Even if a negative test is received before Day 8, the quarantine period should still be a full seven days.

There is a small chance that people who choose to shorten their quarantine period may transmit the infection to others post-quarantine. Anyone who has been in quarantine should continue to monitor their symptoms and wear a face covering around others through Day 14. If they develop symptoms, they should isolate themselves immediately to avoid infecting others and seek testing for COVID-19.

See the handout, What to do if you were potentially exposed to someone with COVID-19, for additional information.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website has additional information about quarantine.