CDC relaxes COVID-19 isolation requirements | What you need to know
ATLANTA - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance on COVID-19.
The new guidelines state someone who is infected no longer needs to be isolated for 5 days after testing positive for the virus. That’s as long as the fever goes away without medication and symptoms improve.
"COVID messes me up. The first time I got it, I was fully sick for more than a month. Like, very, very, dangerously ill," said Sam Levine.
That was the first time Levine was diagnosed with COVID, but he says he’s since gotten it again, each time being less severe.
That tracks with the national trend.
"We are seeing less hospitalizations, less deaths from COVID, which is a great sign," said CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen.
She says their data shows the collective immunity in the community is stronger now than ever.
"We could tell from our wastewater data that there was a lot of virus spread, but the trends and reduction of hospitalizations and death continued. That's why we felt comfortable moving to this unified guidance," Dr. Cohen said.
The unified guidance now states self-isolation should only last for 24 hours after a fever is broken without the aid of medication or if symptoms improve.
That is now in line with guidance for influence or RSV.
This replaces the CDC guidance which called for people to self-isolate for 5 days after contracting COVID.
"You can return to work or return to school faster. That's one of the positive consequences of a guideline change like this," said Dr. Jodie Guest, senior vice chair for the Rollins School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology at Emory University.
She adds that while this is good news for those who can't afford to miss work and kids who need to be in school more, people still need to take COVID-19 seriously.
"We do want to consistently point out that COVID-19 is much more deadly than either of those other two infections," Dr. Guest said.
She points to the part of the new guidelines which say to take extra precautions for up to 5 days after the 24-hour isolation period is over, like masking and social distancing.