The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced that Americans who test positive for COVID-19 may no longer have to stay isolated at home for five days, if new guidelines are approved.
Instead, the agency plans to recommend that people who test positive stay “fever and symptom-free” without the aid of medication for 24 hours.
The agency is relaxing its COVID-19 isolation guidelines for the first time since 2021 to merge them with guidelines on how to avoid the flu and RSV.
The rationale for these new guidelines comes at a time when many people have achieved immunity from the virus either through catching it or being vaccinated against it.
This is a stark difference from the landscape in the U.S. when the virus first emerged and was killing nearly 1.2 million people, in addition to closing down schools and workplaces, according to The Washington Post.
However, The White House still has not signed off on the proposed guidelines which the agency plans to release in April for public comment.
The new guidance would also not apply to hospitals or other healthcare settings with immunocompromised populations.
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Katherine Rodriguez can be reached at krodriguez@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips.
