Updated October 1, 2024
CDC’s Respiratory Virus Guidance provides strategies you can use to help protect yourself and others from health risks caused by COVID-19, RSV, influenza and other respiratory viruses. These actions can help you lower the risk of respiratory virus transmission (spreading or catching disease) and lower the risk of severe illness if you get sick.
Core Prevention Strategies
- Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines.
- 2024-2025 Covid-19 vaccine boosters are available at SHS in limited supply. Please call for information.
- 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
- 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
What To Do 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.
- 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.
- There are multiple options for at-home Covid testing.
- Wearing a mask and putting distance between yourself and others can help lower the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
- Learn when you can go back to your normal activities.