The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may consider relaxing coronavirus (COVID) isolation guidelines.

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 14, 2024 (HealthDay News) — New guidelines proposed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that Americans who test positive for COVID-19 no longer routinely have to stay home for five days.

This is the first time the agency has considered relaxing coronavirus isolation guidelines since 2021, and the idea behind the potential change is to align them with similar guidelines for influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, according to four agency officials and an expert familiar with the discussions. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

However, the CDC later said in a statement that it “has no updates to its coronavirus guidance to announce at this time,” adding that it “will continue to make decisions based on the best evidence and science to keep communities healthy and safe.” “As reported by NBC News.

Whatever the CDC decides to do, most Americans have now developed some level of immunity to the virus due to previous infection and/or vaccination, and that requires a more thoughtful approach, experts said.

“Public health has to be realistic,” Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, told the newspaper. “When making recommendations to the public today, we have to try to make the most of what people want to do…You can be absolutely right in science and still get nothing done because no one will listen to you.”

In the proposed guidance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering plans to recommend that people who test positive for coronavirus use symptoms as a guide to decide whether to isolate themselves for five days, the newspaper reported.

Three agency officials told the newspaper that infected people will no longer need to stay at home if they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the help of medication and their symptoms are mild and improving.

The CDC's potential change follows similar actions already taken by Oregon and California.

However, relaxing coronavirus isolation guidelines when the science on virus contagion has not changed could anger vulnerable groups, CDC officials and experts told the Post.

Dr. Lara Germanos, a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a coalition of health care workers, told The Washington Post that relaxing the guidelines “brushes this serious disease under the rug.” Harmful effects of COVID-19.

He said public health authorities should treat Covid-19 differently than other respiratory viruses because it is more deadly than influenza and poses a risk of persistent symptoms known as long Covid. CDC data shows that nearly 7% of Americans report persistent coronavirus symptoms, such as fatigue, shortness of breath, brain fog and joint pain.

CDC officials told the newspaper that the proposed recommendations would not apply to hospitals and other health care settings with more vulnerable populations.

Declining hospitalizations due to the coronavirus were among the reasons California shortened its five-day isolation recommendation last month, urging people to stay home until they have been free of fever for 24 hours and their symptoms are mild and improving. Oregon took a similar step last May.

The newspaper reported that it is unclear whether the updated CDC guidelines will still recommend wearing masks for 10 days if you become infected.

Doctors say the best way for patients to protect their communities is to wear masks or avoid traveling outside the home if they are infected.

“You see a lot of people with symptoms, and you don't know if they have COVID or influenza or respiratory syncytial virus, but in those three cases, they probably shouldn't be in the target, coughing and looking sick,” Dr. Eli Berencevich, professor of medicine. Internal medicine at the University of Iowa.

more information

Visit the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) page for updated guidance on isolating the coronavirus.

Source: Washington Post; NBC News