New York, Jan 5 (AP): The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has explained the scientific rationale for shortening its COVID-19 isolation and quarantine recommendations, and clarified that the guidance applies to children as well as adults.
The CDC also said Tuesday that, for people who catch COVID-19, testing does not need to emerge from five days of isolation — despite indications from other federal officials that the agency may be reconsidering that. Was being
The agency announced the changes last week, which halve isolation times for Americans who catch the coronavirus and have no symptoms or only brief illnesses. The CDC said isolation should only end if a person has been free of fever for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing drugs and other symptoms are improving.
It also shortened the time when close contacts needed to be quarantined from 10 days to five days.
CDC officials previously said the changes were in line with evidence that people with the coronavirus are most contagious two days before and three days after they develop symptoms.
Some experts have questioned how the new recommendations were formulated and why they were changed amid a spike in cases driven by the highly infectious Omron variant. Some also expressed disappointment that the guidelines allowed people to leave isolation without being tested to see if they were still contagious.
On Tuesday, the CDC posted documents designed to address those — and other — questions about the latest recommendations. The new guidance applies to school children as well as adults, the CDC said in response to questions raised by school leaders across the country.
Determining the scientific basis for the amendment, the agency said that more than 100 studies from 17 countries indicate that most transmission occurs early in infection.
The CDC acknowledged that the data came from research conducted on when delta and other pre-omicron variants were causing the most infections. But the agency also pointed to limited, preliminary data from the US and South Korea, which suggest that the time between exposure to Omicron and the appearance of symptoms may be shorter than in earlier variants.
The CDC also raised the question of why it did not call for people to test negative before emerging from isolation.
On Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s top medical adviser, said the CDC was considering the inclusion of a negative test as part of its guidance.
The agency said laboratory tests can show positive results when a person stops being infectious, and that a negative test at home doesn’t necessarily mean there’s no danger. Therefore, the agency said, it was recommending that people wear masks everywhere for five days after the end of the isolation.
It made suggestions for those who have access to tests and want to get themselves tested before leaving isolation.
Dr Eric Topol, head of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, accused the agency of spreading confusion. He believed that it is appropriate to reduce the time of isolation, but only with testing.
“We need to come up with a strategy that limits the isolation time, but we don’t want it to be one that is adding to the spread of the virus and inadvertently leading to the spread of the virus,” They said.
The CDC also suggests that people exposed to the virus quarantine for five days, unless they have received a booster shot or have recently received their initial vaccine dose. The agency said anyone exposed, regardless of vaccination status – should get tested after five days if possible.
The agency also recognized that many people were not following previous isolation and quarantine recommendations anyway. The CDC said research shows that only 25% to 30% of people under the old guidance were in isolation for a full 10 days. (AP) SCY SCY
(This story has been published as part of an auto-generated Syndicate wire feed. Headline or body have not been edited by ABP Live.)
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