CDC shortens recommended quarantine time from 14 days
The Centers for Disease Control discovered the risk of spreading the virus is lower in the final days of the recommended 14-day quarantine
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has modified some of its COVID-19 restrictions.
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The CDC now says those exposed to the virus only need to quarantine for seven days if a COVID-19 test comes back negative and 10 days after exposure with no symptoms. They hope loosening restrictions will encourage more people to comply.
“Reducing the length of quarantine may make it easier for people to take this critical public health step,” said Henry Walke, a CDC COVID-19 incident manager, per The Hill.
The ideal amount of quarantine time is still 14 days but after “extensive modelling,” they discovered the risk of spreading the virus is lower in the final days.
They still suggest that people don’t travel during the holidays and expect cases to rise once post-Thanksgiving reports are released. But if you do travel they recommend you test one to three days before the expected travel date and three to five days upon return.
They define exposure as being closer than six feet to an infected person for about 15 minutes over 24 hours.
The CDC urges folks to still wear a mask and social distance when around others. They also want to make it clear that, “Testing does not eliminate all risk.”
Walke adds, “Avoid these crowded indoor spaces,” including restaurants and indoor gatherings.
In an exclusive interview with theGrio, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and advisor to six presidents, says we are not of out the coronavirus woods yet.
“Well, we’re in a very precarious situation in that if you look at the slope, the trajectory of the curve that’s gone up now in what I would consider the third surge that we’ve had – the first one, as you remember, was in the very early spring in the northeastern part of the country, dominated by the New York metropolitan area,” Fauci told theGrio.
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He continues, “That came down a bit. And then when we try to reopen the country, reopen the economy in the early summer, we had another slope that went up and brought a baseline of infections to a high level. And now we’re having a very steep surge up as we get into the colder months of the fall and the winter to the point where records are being broken.”
Additional reporting by D.L. Chandler.
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