Visit the CDC website for a complete list of COVID-19 symptoms.

Read the CDC’s guidance on being up to date with all your COVID-19 vaccines, how to protect yourself and others, and what to expect when getting your COVID vaccine.

Read more about how to get vaccinated in Philadelphia.

Most people who have had COVID-19 get better just by resting, drinking fluids, and taking fever-reducing medicine.

If you are at high risk for severe disease (are overweight or have other medical conditions, or are over 50–with increasing risk as you get older), contact your healthcare provider immediately after you test positive. Treatments must start in the first few days of illness to help you get well.

• Oral antiviral medications (such as Paxlovid) target specific parts of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and can help reduce its spread through a person’s body. They have been shown to significantly reduce the chance of developing severe COVID. Read more about treatments.
• Call your healthcare provider to discuss if oral antivirals could help you.
• For healthcare providers, please visit the Philadelphia Health Information Portal and look for the following HAN: COVID-19 Therapeutics: Oral Antivirals – Ritonavir-boosted nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid) for Non-hospitalized Adults (March 7, 2024) for more information.
• If you have trouble breathing, worsening cough, chest pain or pressure, new confusion, inability to wake or stay awake, or bluish lips or face, call 911 or go to the Emergency Department immediately.

Review symptoms of COVID-19. If you have symptoms of COVID-19 or another respiratory illness that aren’t better explained by another cause, stay home and away from others (including people you live with who are not sick).

• Stay in a separate room and use your own bathroom if available.
• Wear a face mask when around other people.
• Remember to wash your hands often.

You can go back to your normal activities when, for at least 24 hours:

• Your symptoms are getting better overall AND
• You are fever-free without fever reducing medicine.

When you return to your normal activities, take added precautions for the next 5 days.

• Added precautions include steps for cleaner air, hygiene (washing hands frequently and cleaning commonly touched surfaces), masking, physical distancing, and testing before meeting others indoors.
• Visit the CDC website to see an infographic of these precautions.
• Seek health care promptly for testing and/or treatment if you have risk factors for severe illness to help lower your risk.
• Find out how to get tested in Philadelpia.
• Read the CDC’s complete respiratory illness guidance.

People who have had COVID-19 will have some short-term immunity to the virus, but those who had COVID-19 can become re-infected.

If you’ve recovered from a previous COVID-19 illness but develop new COVID-19 symptoms, you should isolate and test immediately with a rapid antigen test. You should test even if it’s been less than 90 days since your previous illness.

Learn more about why getting vaccinated is a safer way to build protection than getting infected.

People with serious underlying health problems are more likely to develop severe COVID-19. If you develop new symptoms, you should always consult with your personal physician or provider about treatments for people with underlying health problems. See the question above (How do you treat COVID-19?) for more information.

Yes. Contact tracing is still used to stop the spread of COVID-19, especially among people who:

• Are part of a COVID-19 outbreak.
• Live in certain high-risk-settings.

The Health Department mostly uses contact tracing to investigate disease outbreaks. It does not conduct routine investigations of individual COVID-19 cases.

If the Health Department contacts you, please answer or return these calls/texts/emails. They are not spam. All responses are completely voluntary and are kept confidential.

If you think you have been exposed to COVID-19, you should mask around others for a full 10 days. Learn more about what you can do to protect yourself and others.

If you have COVID-19, visit our guidance page to learn how to notify your own contacts.

Visit the CDC website to learn more about contact tracing for COVID-19.

Questions? Call (215) 685-5488 or email covid@phila.gov.

Masks and vaccination for COVID-19 are not required in schools. However, some schools may require masks when students and staff return after having a COVID-19 infection or exposure as recommended by the CDC. Schools may set their own, more restrictive, mask policies.

We recommend that anyone who is eligible should be vaccinated with all recommended COVID-19 vaccine doses. There are many opportunities for free vaccination in Philadelphia.

Yes, the COVID-19 vaccine is available for children ages six months and up. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics have all recommended that children six months and older be vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as they can.

To learn more about vaccination, read Six Things to Know about COVID-19 Vaccination for Children and The Science Behind COVID-19 Vaccines: Parent FAQs.

Children three years and older can get vaccines at many pharmacies and those 18 months and older can get vaccinated at retail care clinics. Children six months and older can get vaccinated at health centers or their pediatrician’s office. No matter where you choose to go, call before you go to make sure they have vaccines.

Check phila.gov/vaccine and vaccines.gov for a location near you.

Most children with COVID-19 get better just by resting, drinking fluids, and taking fever-reducing medicine.

If your child has trouble breathing, worsening cough, chest pain or pressure, new confusion, inability to wake or stay awake, or bluish lips or face, call 911 or go to the Emergency Department immediately.

For children 28 days or older who have COVID-19 and are at risk for progressing to severe disease or hospitalized, various treatment options are available. You should discuss these options with your pediatrician.

The shot can cause swollen lymph nodes for a few days to weeks. This swelling is a normal reaction that your body is building protection to the virus that causes COVID-19 and is NOT a sign of cancer. However, these swollen lymph nodes could cause a false reading on a mammogram. This means that something looks abnormal on the test but doesn’t mean that you have cancer. To avoid these false readings, you should get your mammogram before the vaccine or wait 4-6 weeks after your vaccine to get your screening, or annual mammogram. If your doctor is ordering a test because you have breast cancer, or because a previous test looking for breast cancer was abnormal, you should not delay your test. Tell your doctor when you had your shot so that they are aware.

Yes. Pregnant people are especially at risk for poor outcomes from COVID-19 disease.  Getting vaccinated is the best way to reduce the chance of complications for pregnant people and the fetus. The vaccine is recommended for people who are pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to get pregnant now, or might become pregnant in the future.

Find more information, see the CDC’s frequently asked questions about COVID-19 vaccination, scroll to the Safety section and the question, “If I am pregnant or planning to get pregnant, can I get the vaccine?”

Pregnant and recently pregnant people are more likely to get severely ill from COVID-19 compared to people who are not pregnant.

COVID-19 during pregnancy also increases the risk of delivering a preterm (earlier than 37 weeks) or stillborn infant. Babies born to women who had COVID-19 during pregnancy have an increased risk of admission to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Learn more about pregnant and recently pregnant people, COVID-19 and breastfeeding, and myths and facts about COVID-19 vaccines.

Infants born to people with COVID-19 have increased risk of prematurity, stillbirth, and ICU admission.

Getting vaccinated is the best way to prevent these complications. The vaccine is recommended for people who are pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to get pregnant now, or might become pregnant in the future.

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines while pregnant or breastfeeding.

COVID-19 does not pass through breast milk and does not cause infection in the baby. You should continue to breastfeed your baby while you have COVID-19 but be sure to take precautions including wearing a masking, washing hands, and sterilizing pumping equipment.

Learn more about myths and facts about COVID-19 vaccines.

Masking is an important tool to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses. You may decide to wear a mask or respirator (like an N95 or KN95) when you are indoors in public settings. Some instances where you may want to wear a mask include:

• Any time you or a family member are going to be around people more vulnerable to COVID, such as the unvaccinated, the elderly, or those with health risks.
• In highly trafficked areas or poorly ventilated spaces when there is a high level of sickness in your community from respiratory diseases. For more information see the CDC’s Hospital Admission Levels by County tool.
• Some health care providers or businesses may require you to mask. See Vaccination and Masking Requirements for Healthcare Workers.

Masks and vaccination for COVID-19 are not required in schools. However, some schools may require masks when students and staff return after having a COVID-19 infection or exposure as recommended by the CDC. Schools may set their own, more restrictive, mask policies.

Many hospitals continue to require masks in certain areas with vulnerable populations or during illness surges. Other businesses or schools may require masking after testing positive or after an exposure.

People who have COVID-19 or suspected COVID-19 infection or another respiratory illness  can return to work when, for 24 hours, the following are true:

• Their symptoms are getting better overall AND
• They are fever-free without fever-reducing medicine.

When you return to your normal activities, take these added precautions for the next 5 days:

• Increase ventilation for cleaner air.
• Hygiene (washing hands frequently and cleaning commonly touched surfaces).
• Masking.
• Physical distancing.
• Testing before meeting others indoors.

The more precautions you follow, the better.

Please do not require proof of COVID-19 testing either to qualify for sick leave or to return to work. Tests can remain positive for weeks after infection due to dead virus remaining in the body, but this does not mean that people are contagious.

For more informtion, see the CDC’s complete respiratory illness guidance.

Testing is a valuable prevention tool that helps you make decisions about how to protect yourself and others. However, sometimes testing, especially repeat testing, is not always available to everyone. If you’re able to test, please test.

• Our neighborhood resource hubs give away free at-home test kits. Visit our testing event calendar for more information.
• If you have risk factors for severe illness, seek health care as soon as possible for testing and/or treatment to help lower your risk.
• If you have just recovered from a respiratory illness and will be seeing people indoors in the next 5 days, you can take a test before you visit with them.  This is especially important when visiting those who are at increased risk of severe disease, such as those who are immunocompromised or are older than age 65. In any of these instances, if your test result is positive, reschedule your plans and stay home.

For more information, see the CDC’s complete respiratory illness guidance.

If you think you should be tested for COVID-19, use our testing sites map and events calendar to find locations, contact information, and other requirements for testing sites in Philadelphia.

Pick up free rapid antigen home test kits at Health Department resource hubs.

You can go back to your normal activities when, for at least 24 hours:

• Your symptoms are getting better overall AND
• You are fever-free without fever-reducing medicine.

For more informtion, see the CDC’s complete respiratory illness guidance.

We recommend following three core prevention strategies:

• Stay up to date with vaccinations for COVID, flu, and RSV (if eligible) to protect against serious illness, hospitalization, and death.
• Practice good hygiene. Cover coughs and sneezes, wash or sanitize hands often, and clean frequently touched surfaces.
• Take steps for cleaner air. Bring in more fresh outside air, purify indoor air, or meet people outdoors.

You can also follow additional prevention strategies, like:

• Masking. The best mask for you is the most protective mask you can wear correctly and consistently.
• Physically distancing. There is no single number that defines a “safe” distance, since spread of viruses can depend on many factors. The closer you are to someone with a respiratory virus, the more likely you are to catch it. Avoid being near someone who has symptoms.
• Testing. Testing can help you decide what to do next and help you make prevention or treatment choices, especially if you’re at high risk for severe illness.

In general, the more prevention strategies you follow, the better protected you and others around you will be from getting sick from a respiratory virus.

See above: What should you do if you think you have COVID-19?

See: What to do if an employee has symptoms of COVID-19, flu, or RSV.

Most people with breathing problems and asthma are able to wear masks comfortably to protect themselves at times of high risk. These individuals are at higher risk from severe outcomes from COVID-19 infection and should wear masks in times of high risk. Someone who is actively having trouble breathing such as an asthma attack should take off their face mask and use their asthma medication or get medical attention if needed.

Vaccines are a core prevention strategy to keep us, our loved ones, and our community safe from disease.

For more information, see CDC Newsroom: COVID-19 vaccines continue to protect against hospitalization and death among adults.

Learn everything you need to know about dosing and staying up to date with your vaccines.

People who are moderately or severely immunocompromised have specific recommendations for COVID-19 vaccines. Learn more about COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for people who are moderately or severely immunocompromised.

Read about how COVID-19 vaccines work.

COVID-19 vaccines are part of the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program and continue to be free for all children up to age 18. For adults, vaccines will be covered by insurance. Uninsured and underinsured people will still have access to vaccine through a federal program and can get vaccinated at their provider’s office.

Yes. Children six months and older can get the vaccine. We recommend getting your child vaccinated, especially those under 5, since this is the third most hospitalized age group for COVID-19 after older adults.

See above: Can young children get the COVID-19 vaccine? (under Children and Families).

Yes, it is recommended that you be vaccinated even if you have antibodies in your blood. Hybrid immunity (having both vaccine and prior infection) protects you more than just prior infection alone.

If you recently had COVID-19, you must wait until you are cleared from isolation to protect staff and other individuals at the vaccination site.

Even if you already have had COVID-19, you can get it again, and studies show worse outcomes with repeat infections. Getting vaccinated may also help protect against Long COVID.

No vaccine can protect 100% against infection. For most people who received an updated vaccine, there is good protection against severe disease. Since updated vaccines more closely match circulating variants, the current recommendation is for everyone to receive an updated COVID-19 vaccine every fall.  Older adults should also receive a second dose in the spring.  The Health Department recommends everyone receive all vaccines for which they are eligible.

Read more guidance from the CDC about how to stay up to date with vaccines.

Read about the CDC’s safety testing and monitoring of the vaccine.

See question above: How does safety testing for vaccines work and how do we know the vaccine is safe?

No. There is no living COVID-19 virus in the vaccines now available, and it will not give you COVID-19 infection. Receiving the vaccine, however, will greatly reduce your chances of getting very sick or dying from COVID-19 in the future.

Learn more about myths and facts about COVID-19 vaccines.

Most side effects from the vaccine are temporary and well tolerated. Read information from the CDC about possible side effects and helpful tips to treat them.

If you’ve lost your COVID-19 vaccination record card, please see How to request your immunization record.

If you have further questions, call the Health Department at (215) 685-5488 or publichealthinfo@phila.gov.

COVID-19 vaccination is not mandatory for Philadelphia residents. If you have concerns about receiving the vaccine, please discuss them with your healthcare provider.

Healthcare workers must be vaccinated. For more information, see Vaccination and Masking Requirements for Healthcare Workers.