And why some experts aren’t happy about the updated guidance.
It’s official: After weeks of speculation, the CDC has dropped its 5-day isolation guidance for Covid-19. We’re breaking down the new rules and why some experts aren’t happy about the reset.
The Newest CDC Guidelines for Covid-19
The CDC has significantly loosened its Covid guidance, allowing people who test positive to end isolation after they’ve been fever-free for at least 24 hours (without the aid of fever-reducing medication) and when their symptoms are mild and improving. The agency also recommends that those who return to work or school limit close contact with others, mask up, regularly was their hands, and improve indoor air quality in their spaces.
This guidance applies to Covid-19, the flu, RSV, and other respiratory infections.
CDC director Mandy Cohen said that the change “reflects the progress we have made in protecting against severe illness.” The agency also believes a unified approach will be the most effective in limiting the spread, because the viruses are hard to tell apart and can be prevented in similar ways. The CDC also thinks Americans, many of whom are not testing or isolating anyway, will be more likely to follow these simplified rules.
“Our goal here is to continue to protect those at risk for severe illness, while also reassuring folks that these recommendations are simple, clear, easy to understand and can be followed,” Cohen said at a news conference.
What do experts think of the update?
Many experts think that a new protocol to managing the spread of the virus is needed, given that most people have developed some level of immunity, either through prior infections or due to the vaccines. And the number of Covid death and hospitalizations are much lower than they’ve been in previous years.
“Public health has to be realistic,” Michael T. Osterholm, Ph.D., an infectious-disease expert at the University of Minnesota, told the Washington Post. “We have to try to get the most out of what people are willing to do. …You can be absolutely right in the science and yet accomplish nothing because no one will listen to you.”
Many experts have criticized the CDC’s stance, however. They’re saying it minimizes the threat of Covid and long Covid, may allow the virus to spread more aggressively, and puts those already vulnerable — older adults, immunocompromised individuals, and others — at an even higher risk. Experts have also questioned the agency’s decision to treat Covid like the flu or other respiratory viruses, because it’s already proven to be deadlier and more contagious.
“This could actually increase Covid and long Covid cases and, to a certain extent, probably illness among high-risk individuals and thus hospitalizations and deaths,” Anand Parekh, MD, chief medical adviser at the Bipartisan Policy Center, told NPR.
