The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated its guidelines for COVID-19 isolation, no longer requiring people who test positive to stay away from others for at least five days.
The health organization now suggests infected people should stay home until they are fever-free without medication for at least 24 hours and their symptoms have improved within the same period.
After the initial 24-hour period, individuals can resume their normal activities. The CDC recommends taking additional precautions for the next five days, such as improving ventilation, masking, and limiting close contact with others.
These enhanced precautions are important for those who are around vulnerable individuals, such as the elderly or those with compromised immune systems due to medication or illness.
According to CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen, the decision comes as most of the US population has acquired some immunity against COVID, and the country is no longer seeing large waves of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths from the virus. Severe infections resulting in hospitalizations and deaths have decreased since 2020 and 2021.
According to CNN, there were 450,000 deaths from COVID-19 in 2021; by 2023, that number declined to around 75,000 deaths. COVID has dropped from the third leading cause of death in the US in 2020 and 2021, to the 10th leading cause of death in preliminary data from 2023.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.