A few days ago the CDC made news by lowering the number of days that people with asymptomatic cases should quarantine. It used to be ten days, but now it’s five.
However yesterday the CDC made another change that is sure to get people’s attention. Not only does this apply to asymptomatic cases, but now to symptomatic cases where the symptoms “are resolving”:
NEW – CDC quietly revised their guidance: Exit after 5-day isolation not only when you are "asymptomatic," but also when your "symptoms are resolving."
h/t @CT_Bergstrom pic.twitter.com/wVQRyM555b
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) December 30, 2021
Here’s a bigger version (click to enlarge):
I double checked this via the CDC link provided, and sure enough it says this exactly:
Given what we currently know about COVID-19 and the Omicron variant, CDC is shortening the recommended time for isolation for the public. People with COVID-19 should isolate for 5 days and if they are asymptomatic or their symptoms are resolving (without fever for 24 hours), follow that by 5 days of wearing a mask when around others to minimize the risk of infecting people they encounter. The change is motivated by science demonstrating that the majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the 1-2 days prior to onset of symptoms and the 2-3 days after.
In other words, if it’s been five days and you haven’t had a fever for a whole day, then you can leave your home and get back to having a life again.
This new guidance is starting to sound like what I’ve heard my whole life regarding regarding the flu. I was always told that if I didn’t have a fever, I could come back to school because I wasn’t contagious any longer. There has always been a correlation between fever and being contagious when it comes to the flu and now it sounds like, based on this new guidance, the same might be true of COVID.