The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has changed its public health guidance for COVID-19, recommending that people exposed to the virus need not immediately quarantine, but instead wear a “high-quality” mask for 10 days and get tested on the fifth day after exposure.
The updated guidelines were announced in a press release yesterday. CDC senior scientist Greta Massetti said in the release that the guidance “acknowledges that the pandemic is not over, but also helps us move to a point where COVID-19 no longer severely disrupts our daily lives.”
Many recommendations from the CDC also remain unchanged. The full list of guidance is available on the CDC’s website page dedicated to COVID-19.
The change in guidance notably eliminates strategies that were previously being used to combat the virus in high contact settings, like schools, including the “test-to-stay” strategy, where students exposed to the virus would be allowed to attend school in-person as long as they were continually tested. Suffolk County did not decide to recommend local school districts adopt a “test-to-stay” strategy late last year when it was recommended by the CDC during a wave of coronavirus cases.
The guidance recommends that if you test positive for COVID-19, you stay home for at least five days and isolate yourself from others and wear a high-quality mask when you must be around others, regardless of vaccination status. You are likely most infectious during the first five days, according to the CDC.
People who are infected that do not have a fever without the use of medication and improving symptoms, or never had symptoms, may end isolation after five days, according to the guidance. People should avoid being around others who are more likely to get very sick from COVID-19 until at least 11 days after they test positive. People who test positive should wear a mask through at least 10 days after they test positive.
The CDC also recommends considering the risk of an area’s COVID-19 community level. Suffolk County has a high COVID-19 community level, according to the CDC. The agency recommends that people wear a mask indoors in public, stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and get tested if they have symptoms of COVID-19. Additional precautions may be needed for people at high risk for severe illness, according to the guidance.
Screening testing of asymptomatic people without known exposures will no longer be recommended in areas with a low COVID-19 community level, but remains in those areas with a medium or high level.
Universal indoor masking in schools and early care education programs continue to be recommended in areas with a high COVID-19 community level.
The CDC continues to recommend vaccination to protect against serious illness, hospitalization and death. The protection provided by the vaccine against symptomatic infection and transmission has diminished over time, the CDC states, and therefore it is important to stay up to date on vaccinations as they become available.
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