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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 now receive regular testing. You will not have to stay at home for five days.
According to four agency officials and an expert familiar with the discussions, it is the first time the agency has considered relaxing its COVID isolation guidelines since 2021, and the idea behind the potential change is to align them with similar flu and RSV guidelines. To align with. The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
However, the CDC later said in a statement that it had “no updates to COVID guidance to announce at this time,” adding that it is “based on the best evidence and science to keep communities healthy and safe.” But will continue to take decisions.” ” NBC News reported.
Whatever the CDC decides to do, experts said most Americans have now developed a level of immunity to the virus due to prior infection and/or vaccination, and it requires a more thoughtful approach.
“Public health has to be realistic,” Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, told the Post. “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 at the science and still achieve nothing because no one will listen to you Will listen.”
In the proposed guidance, the CDC is considering a plan to recommend that people who test positive for COVID self-isolate for five days after they decide to leave, the Post reports. Use symptoms as a guide.
Three agency officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the Post that infected people no longer need to stay home if they have been without a fever for at least 24 hours without the help of medication and their symptoms go away. Are mild and are improving.
The CDC’s potential change follows similar actions already taken by Oregon and California.
Still, when the science around the infectiousness of the virus has not changed, loosening COVID isolation guidelines could anger vulnerable groups, CDC officials and experts told the Post.
Dr. Lara Germanas, a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School and a member of the People’s CDC, a coalition of health care workers, told the Post that relaxing the guidelines would “eliminate this serious disease.” Scientists and advocates have focused on reducing it. Harmful effects of COVID-19.
Public health officials should treat COVID differently from other respiratory viruses, he said, because it is more deadly than the flu and poses a risk of longer-lasting symptoms, known as long COVID. is referred to as. CDC data shows that about 7 percent of Americans have reported persistent COVID symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, brain fog and joint pain.
CDC officials told the Post that the proposed recommendations would not apply to hospitals and other health care settings with more vulnerable populations.
One of the reasons California eased its five-day isolation recommendation last month was the low rate of COVID hospitalizations, with people being fever-free for 24 hours and their symptoms becoming mild and improving. Urged to stay at home till . Oregon took a similar step last May.
It’s unclear whether the CDC’s updated guidance will still recommend wearing a mask for 10 days if infected, the Post reports.
Doctors say the best way for sick people to protect their community is to wear a mask or avoid traveling outside their home if infected.
“You see a lot of people with symptoms, you don’t know if they have COVID, flu or RSV, but in those three cases, they probably shouldn’t be in Target, coughing and looking sick,” Dr. Eli Perencevich, a professor at the University of Iowa Internal Medicine.
more information
Visit the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) page for updated guidance on COVID isolation.
Source: Washington Post; nbc news
