Self-quarantining (staying at home) due to coronavirus
To prevent the spread of coronavirus, you may need to stay at home and not receive visitors. This is called self-quarantining. You need to stay at home (or in your accommodation) if you have COVID-19 symptoms, such as a runny nose or fever, or if you have been in contact with someone who has coronavirus.
Situations in which you need to stay at home
After someone is infected with coronavirus it can take between 2 and 10 days for symptoms, such as a cough or shortness of breath, to appear. But a person is already infectious from two days before any symptoms appear. This means that you can spread coronavirus even if you don’t have symptoms of COVID-19. To prevent this, in some situations you will need to stay 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:
someone you live with has symptoms of COVID-19 that include a fever and/or shortness of breath. If a child under the age of 6 has these symptoms, the people the child lives with do not need to self-quarantine;
someone you live with has coronavirus;
you have been in close contact with someone with coronavirus (within 1.5 metres for at least 15 minutes);
Children under 6 do not usually need to be tested if they have symptoms. They can go to school or childcare if they only have cold symptoms.
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 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
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 (within 1.5 metres for at least 15 minutes). For example, a partner you do not live with, a travelling companion or a colleague. You will have been infectious from 2 days before you developed symptoms. lf they develop symptoms of COVID-19, they should also get tested.
People you live with and close contacts identified through contact tracing can now also get tested even if they have no symptoms. This can be done on the fifth day after their last contact. The GGD will help them determine this date, and tell them how they can arrange a test. If they test negative, they will be able to leave quarantine. They will however need to stay extra alert to symptoms and continue to follow the basic rules. If they develop symptoms after being tested, they will need to stay home and make a new appointment to get tested.
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. They should however be extra alert to symptoms. If they develop symptoms, they must get tested as soon as possible. This also applies to children.
If anyone of the people you live with has symptoms of COVID-19 that include a fever and/or shortness of breath, everyone who lives in the house must stay at home, even if they have no symptoms themselves.
If a child under 6 develops symptoms of COVID-19 including a fever or shortness of breath, the rest of the family do not need to self-quarantine.
If you have been in close contact with someone with coronavirus (within 1.5 metres for at least 15 minutes) – for example, a partner, travelling companion or colleague – you should self-quarantine for 10 days after your last contact.
If you develop symptoms, get tested for coronavirus as soon as possible. You can get tested even if you don’t have symptoms if you have been identified in source and contact tracing as having been in close contact with an infected person. This is possible as of five days after your last contact with them. The municipal health service (GGD) will explain when and how you can get tested if you don’t have symptoms. If you test negative, you will be able to leave quarantine.
You should however stay alert to symptoms. 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.
If you are travelling to the Netherlands from a COVID-19 risk area, you should self-quarantine for 10 days on arrival.
You can arrange to get tested for coronavirus on the 5th day after your arrival in the Netherlands, even if you don’t have any symptoms. If the test shows you do not have coronavirus, you can end your self-quarantine. 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. You can make an appointment by phone in advance, but you will have to wait until day 5 to make an appointment online.
If you develop symptoms shortly after arriving in the Netherlands, make an appointment to get tested as soon as possible. Don’t wait until day 5 to get tested. Even if your test comes back negative, 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 do follow the general coronavirus rules at all times.
Children aged 12 and under can go to school, out-of-school care and sports clubs if they do not have any symptoms. But they should not go anywhere else.
You do not need to self-quarantine if you travel within the Netherlands
There are measures that focus on the situation within the Netherlands and measures that focus on cross-border travel. For each measure, the government weighs two interests:
the need to limit the spread of coronavirus; and
the impact on society.
The advice to self-quarantine for 10 days after travelling currently only applies to people arriving in the Netherlands from high-risk countries or regions.
The number of infections in the Netherlands is also high, as can be seen on the coronavirus dashboard. That is why people are currently advised to travel as little as possible 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. Stay at home for 10 days from the day on which you had contact with the infected person. If you develop symptoms, make an appointment for a test.
Because you received a notification you can get tested even if you don’t have symptoms. Please note that this cannot be done until the fifth day after your last contact with the infected person. The app will explain how to arrange a test if you do not have symptoms. If you test negative, you will be able to leave quarantine. You should however stay alert to symptoms. 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. If this is absolutely impossible, you can go out to do grocery shopping, but only if you have no symptoms of COVID-19.
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 coronavirus or 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.
Exceptions to the self-quarantine rules for children
Your child may also have to self-quarantine. This depends on your child’s age and whether your child is at primary or secondary school.
Children under 4 and primary school children:
can go to school or childcare if they have cold symptoms, an occasional cough, asthma symptoms or hay fever symptoms. But they should not go anywhere else
must stay at home if they have a fever, shortness of breath or a continuous cough.
If your child is very sick, call your family doctor.
Please note: different rules apply if:
someone the child lives with has symptoms of COVID-19 that include a fever and/or shortness of breath. In that case everyone must stay at home. If a child under the age of 6 has these symptoms, the people the child lives with do not need to self-quarantine; or
a close contact has coronavirus and the child also has mild symptoms. In that case the child must stay at home.
Secondary school children (and other teenagers under 18):
The rules for adults apply to secondary school pupils and other teenagers under 18. If they have symptoms they must stay at home and get tested. See the basic rules for everyone.
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 need someone to talk to during quarantine, contact the national Listening Line (Landelijke Luisterlijn) on 0900 0767.
