A contact is defined as a healthy person that has been in such association with an infected
person or a contaminated environment as to have exposed and is therefore at a higher risk of developing the disease.
A contact in the context of COVID-19 is:
• A person living in the same household as a COVID-19 case;
• A person having had direct physical contact with a COVID-19 case or his/her infectious secretions without recommended personal protective equipment (PPE) or with a possible breach of PPE
• A person who was in a closed environment or had face to face contact with a
COVID-19 case at a distance of within1metre including air travel;
The epidemiological link may have occurred within a 14‐day period before the onset of
illness in the case under consideration.
Instructions for contacts being home quarantined
Instructions for the family members of persons being home quarantined
Detection of a travel related/unrelated suspect case of novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID19) will be followed by rapid isolation of such cases in designated health facilities and line
listing of all contacts of such cases.Home quarantine is applicable to all such contacts of a
suspect or confirmed case of COVID-19.
This intervention will be limited to the initial phase of India reporting only (i) travel-related
cases and (ii) focal clusters arising from a travel-related/unrelated case where cluster
containment strategy is adopted (iii) Persons coming from COVID-19 affected areas where
local and community transmission is evident.
