Self-quarantining (staying at home) due to coronavirus
Always stay at home if you have any symptoms that may point to coronavirus. You should also stay at home if you have been in a situation where you had a high risk of being infected. This will help stop the virus spreading. Remember: it can take between 2 and 10 days for symptoms to appear, and not everyone with coronavirus gets symptoms.
In some situations, to stop the virus spreading, you will need to stay at home and not receive visitors. This is called self-quarantining. If you have coronavirus you must self-isolate. This means staying at home, not receiving visitors and having as little contact as possible with the people you live with. How long you need to stay at home for, and what the rules are, depends on the situation.
You must stay at home in the following situations:
Children under 4 can go to daycare if they have cold symptoms, unless they have been in contact with some who has tested positive for coronavirus. In that case, they must stay at home. Always keep your children at home if they have been tested and are waiting for the result. You can find more information about having your child tested on the page about testing for coronavirus.
People you live with must also stay at home
Family members or other people that you live with must also stay at home if your symptoms include a fever and/or shortness of breath. If they develop symptoms themselves, they must also get tested for coronavirus. Anyone who gets tested must stay at home and not receive visitors until the test result is known.
If you have been tested and the results confirm that you have coronavirus, the municipal health service (GGD) will contact you. The GGD will tell you what you need to do, for example self-isolate at home.This means having as little contact as possible with the people you live with. Read the letter containing guidance for people who have tested positive for coronavirus on the RIVM website.
People you live with and close contacts must also stay at home and get tested
If you live with other people, they must self-quarantine. The same applies to close contacts. These are people who have been in close contact with you during the time you have been infectious. Close contact means being within 1.5 metres of someone for a total of at least 15 minutes in a 24-hour period. The 15 minutes do not have to have been consecutive. You will have been infectious from 2 days before you developed symptoms.
People you live with and close contacts must self-quarantine for 10 days and get tested immediately. The GGD will give them a special telephone number to call to make an appointment. They will need to get tested again on the fifth day after the last high-risk contact. If the result of that second test is negative and they have no symptoms, they can end their self-quarantine. If they develop symptoms, they will need to stay at home and get tested again.
If the people you live with/your close contacts do not get tested, they will need to self-quarantine for 10 days from the day you last had close contact.
You may have been in contact with other people who were more than 1.5 metres away from you in the same space for more than 15 minutes, for example a colleague or teacher. These other contacts do not have to self-quarantine. But they will need to get tested on the fifth day following their last contact with you or earlier if they develop symptoms.
If anyone of the people you live with has symptoms of COVID-19 that include a fever and/or shortness of breath, everyone must stay at home until that person’s test result comes back, even if they have no symptoms themselves.
If you have been in close contact with someone with coronavirus (within 1.5 metres for at least 15 minutes in a 24-hour period) you should self-quarantine for 10 days after your last contact and get tested as soon as possible. On day 5 get tested again. If the test comes back negative, you can end your self-quarantine.
The municipal health service (GGD) will give you a number to call in order to arrange a test.
Avoid contact with those in at-risk groups for 10 days after your last contact with the infected person and continue to follow the basic rules. If you develop symptoms after you have been tested, stay home and make an appointment to get tested again.
Other people you live with do not need to get tested if they have not been in close contact with the person in question.
Do not travel abroad unless it is absolutely essential, for example due to a death in the family. When you arrive in the Netherlands, you will need to self-quarantine for 10 days. You can arrange to get tested for coronavirus on the fifth day after your arrival in the Netherlands.
You can make an appointment to get tested by calling the municipal health service (GGD) on 0800 1202 (or +31 850 659 063 if you’re calling from a foreign phone). You can also make an appointment online by going to Coronatest.nl. If your test result is negative, you can end your self-quarantine. But remain alert to any symptoms. Avoid contact with people in at-risk groups until 10 days after your arrival in the Netherlands and continue to follow the basic rules.
If you develop symptoms shortly after arriving in the Netherlands, make an appointment to get tested as soon as possible. If you get tested before the fifth day after your arrival and the test result is negative, you should continue self-quarantining because you could still develop COVID-19. You can also get tested again on day 5. If that test result is negative too, you can end self-quarantine but continu to follow the general coronavirus rules at all times.
You do not need to self-quarantine if you travel within the Netherlands
The advice to self-quarantine for 10 days after travelling currently only applies to people arriving in the Netherlands from abroad a high-risk area. But the general advice is to limit travel as much as possible, including within the Netherlands.
If you receive a notification from the CoronaMelder app this means you have been in close contact with someone with coronavirus. There is a chance that you have also been infected. Self-quarantine at home for 10 days and get tested as soon as possible. Get tested again on day 5. If the test result is negative, you can end your self-quarantine.
Avoid contact with those in at-risk groups for 10 days after your last contact with the infected person and continue to follow the basic rules. If you develop symptoms after you are tested, you will need to stay home and make a new appointment to get tested.
Self-quarantine rules
The following rules apply to everyone during self-quarantine:
Only family members or other people that you live with may be at home with you. You must stay 1.5 metres away from them as much as possible. This means no hugging, kissing or sex.
Nobody may visit you, except for medical purposes (for example, a doctor or a GGD official).
If you need medical assistance, do not go to the doctor or the hospital, but phone the doctor instead.
Ask other people to do grocery shopping for you or order your groceries online.
You can sit outside if you have a garden or balcony.
Do not go to your place of work, but work from home. If you are a healthcare professional you may, only in exceptional cases and if you don’t have any symptoms of COVID-19, go to work. Discuss this with the municipal health service (GGD) or your company doctor.
Do not use public transport or taxis.
Help and support during quarantine
If there is no-one nearby who can help you with shopping or collecting your children from school, for example, you can contact your municipality for support. You can also call the Red Cross national helpline (+31 (0)70 4455 888) to find out if help is available in your neighbourhood.
If you have coronavirus, you should self-quarantine at home. In the future, people who refuse to self-quarantine at home may, in exceptional cases, and following a decision taken by the head of the safety region, be made to quarantine in hospital. Under the Public Health Act, the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport must designate a specific hospital to receive these people. The minister has issued a ministerial order making University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) the designated hospital in such cases.
