Used to describe a medical quarantine for patients who have tested positive for a virus.

Seclusion of an infected person. Not to be confused with quarantine, which is the seclusion of people who may have been in contact with an infected person and need to be monitored until the virus’s incubation period has passed.

Separation of infected people from healthy people for serious contagious diseases like COVID-19.

Separating infected and sick individuals from healthy individuals. Hospitals commonly put sick patients in isolation to prevent the spread of disease.

Isolation is used to separate someone with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 from others to avoid transmitting the disease. In facilities such as hospitals or nursing homes, isolation typically requires the person to be moved into a separate room. Self-isolation or home isolation is when someone with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 who is in stable condition (not requiring hospital care) stays at home, ideally in a separate bedroom.