Treatment, Isolation, and Exposure Guidance

COVID-19 Treatments are free, widely available, and very effective. Treatments work best when taken within 5-7 days of when symptoms begin, so act quickly. Medicines are free regardless of insurance or citizenship status, but you must get a prescription. 

How to find Treatment:

  • If you have insurance, contact your doctor. Video appointments are fine. Some pharmacies also have COVID treatments.  
  • If you do not have a regular doctor or cannot get an appointment with your regular doctor, you can contact Yuba Docs, Western Sierra Family Medical Clinic, Sierra Family Center (San Juan Ridge), and Chapa-De (current patients).
  • If you do not have insurance or cannot reach a provider within 24 hours:
    •  Visit Sesame to make a free phone/video appointment with a healthcare provider.
    • Call (833) 686-5051 to make a phone/video appointment with California's free COVID-19 provider.
  • If you need help finding treatment, call the COVID-19 hotline (833) 422-4255

Costs should not be a barrier to access COVID-19 treatments. You should never be charged for COVID-19 Treatments: Paxlovid or Lagevrio (molnupiravir). All providers administering or supplying these treatments signed an agreement to not charge patients for drug costs. For those with insurance, providers may seek reimbursement from a program or plan that covers dispensing fees for the treatment, but not the cost of the drugs. Further information can be found at: Notice of Patients' Rights FEBRUARY 2023 (ca.gov) 

More information can be found at: COVID-19 Treatment - Coronavirus Response (ca.gov) 

If You've Tested Positive for COVID-19: Isolation


  1. Step 1: Regardless of your vaccination status, if you have tested positive for COVID-19, stay home.
  2. Step 2: Follow the Guidance on Isolation and Quarantine from CDPH.
    • The above guidance does not apply to congregate living or health care settings. 
    • For school guidance, visit the Safe Schools Hub.
  3. Step 3: Identify your close contacts and let them know you tested positive. Share the Guidance on Isolation and Quarantine with them.
    • You are considered infectious two days before your symptoms started. If you are asymptomatic, you are considered infectious two days before the day you took your test. You are considered infectious until your isolation ends.

Let your employer know if you were infectious while at work. Employers can find resources for workplace exposures here. 

If You Were Exposed to COVID-19

If you were a close contact of someone who tested positive for COVID-19,  follow the Guidance on Isolation and Quarantine.

CDPH defines a "close contact" as follows:

  1. In indoor spaces of 400,000 or fewer cubic feet per floor (such as homes, clinic waiting rooms, airplanes, etc), close contact is defined as sharing the same indoor airspace for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period (for example, three individual three 5-minute exposures for a total of 15 minutes) during an infected person's (confirmed by COVID-19 test or clinical diagnosis) infectious period.
  2. In large indoor spaces greater than 400,000 cubic feet per floor (such as open-floor plan offices, large retail stores, manufacturing, or food processing facilities), close contact is defined as being within 6 feet of the infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period during the infected persons infectious period. 

NOTE: Spaces that are separated by floor-to-ceiling walls (e.g., offices, suites, rooms, waiting areas, bathrooms, or break or eating areas that are separated by floor-to-ceiling walls) must be considered district indoor air spaces. 

The Nevada County Health Officer Order mandating self-isolation requirements for people diagnosed with COVID-19 has been rescinded (March 3, 2023).

The Nevada County Health Officer Order mandating self-quarantine requirements for close contacts with COVID-19 has been rescinded (March 3, 2023).

More Resources

Workplace Exposures

See our step-by-step instructions for employers who have a workplace COVID-19 exposure