CDC Shortens Recommended Isolation Period for Individuals Who Test Positive for COVID [Photo]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shortened the recommended isolation time for those with COVID-19—as well as people who have come into close contacts with those who’ve tested positive—from 10 days to 5 days.

via: People

“Given what we currently know about COVID-19 and the Omicron variant, CDC is shortening the recommended time for isolation from 10 days for people with COVID-19 to 5 days, if asymptomatic, followed by 5 days of wearing a mask when around others,” the organization wrote in a release.

The change in isolation period comes after evidence suggests that virus transmission occurs primarily in the one to two days before the onset of symptoms, as well as the two to three days after symptoms begin.

The CDC also shortened its recommended quarantine period for anyone who is exposed to COVID-19.

Those who are unvaccinated, as well as those who are more than six months out from their second mRNA vaccine dose or more than two months out from their Johnson & Johnson vaccine, should quarantine for five days and wear a mask around others for five additional days.

Anyone who is exposed to COVID-19 should also be tested for the virus five days after the exposure.

The CDC’s latest recommendation comes one day after Dr. Anthony Fauci warned of a significant increase in COVID-19 cases following the holidays.

The nation’s leading infectious disease expert, 81, said Sunday on ABC’s This Week that the United States averaged around 150,000 cases of the virus over the last seven days, and that “it likely will go much higher” in the coming weeks as the omicron variant continues spreading rapidly.

When it comes to people who’ve been in close contact with those who’ve tested positive, the CDC recommends the only people who can skip quarantine are those with booster shots, as long as they wear masks in all settings for at least 10 days.