The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its Covid-19 community and school guidance on Thursday, relaxing some key recommendations.
According to the new guidelines, people exposed to the virus no longer need to be quarantined at home, regardless of their vaccination status, but must wear a mask for 10 days and be tested for the virus on the fifth day. I have. Routine surveillance testing of asymptomatic people is no longer recommended in most settings.
Anyone who tests positive for the virus should continue to self-quarantine at home for at least five days. Masking guidelines, which recommend wearing masks indoors where her Covid-19 levels in the community are high, have not changed.
Officials and experts say the shift marks a new phase of the pandemic.
“We know Covid-19 is here to stay,” CDC epidemiologist Greta Masetti said at a news briefing Thursday. The many tools available to protect us from serious illness and death have put us in a different place.”
Dr Massetti added that the new guidelines are aimed at protecting people from serious illnesses. They stress the importance of vaccination and other measures, including antiviral treatment and ventilation.
Many health experts have praised the new guidelines as representing a practical approach to living with the virus long term. “I think this is a welcome change,” said Amesh Adalja, a senior researcher at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “It really shows how far we’ve come.”
But the pandemic isn’t over, they point out, and new variants or future surges may require tougher measures.
The BA.5 version of Omicron, which is rapidly gaining popularity, has recorded an average of over 100,000 cases and nearly 500 deaths per day in the United States.
Nearly all Americans are now eligible to be vaccinated, but many do not have the latest immunizations. Nationwide, 30% of children aged 5-11 and 60% of children aged 12-17 receive the primary vaccine series. 65% of adults aged 65 and over who are most at risk of severe disease receive a booster.
Critical therapies such as antiviral treatments remain difficult to access for many.
Jennifer Nuzzo, Director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University School, said: of public health. “I think there was a whole ground game dial-back that was needed to get people vaccinated.”
