Americans who test positive for Covid-19 will no longer have to isolate for five days, US health officials announced on Friday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has changed its long-standing guidelines, saying people can return to work or regular activities if their symptoms are mild and improving and it has been a day since they had a fever.
The change comes at a time when Covid-19 is no longer the public health threat it once was. It fell from the third leading cause of death in the country early in the pandemic to 10th last year.
Most people have some degree of immunity against the coronavirus through previous vaccinations or infections. And many people aren’t following the five-day isolation guideline anyway, some experts say.
“Our goal here is to continue to protect people at risk of serious illness while reassuring people that these recommendations are simple, clear, easy to understand and follow,” said Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the CDC.
However, some experts are concerned that the change could increase the risk of infection for people who are more vulnerable to developing serious illness.
Covid-19 is not causing as many hospitalizations and deaths as in the early years of the pandemic. The change is an effort to streamline the recommendations so that they are comparable to long-standing recommendations for influenza and other respiratory viruses. Many people with runny noses, coughs or other symptoms don’t test to distinguish whether it is Covid-19, the flu or something else, officials say.
These guidelines may not be as strict as they once were, but they also emphasize that all people with respiratory symptoms should stay home while sick, said Dr. David Margolius, the head of Cleveland’s health department.
There has been no recent change in the science of how long people with Covid-19 are likely to be contagious, said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University’s School of Public Health.
“What has changed is how much Covid is harming us as a population,” Nuzzo said.
The advice now is that people with complaints should stay at home until they are mild and improving and it has been a day since they had a fever.
However, the guidelines for nursing homes and healthcare institutions do not change.
The agency emphasizes that people should still try to prevent infections in the first place by getting vaccinated, washing their hands and taking steps to get more fresh air.