US health officials on Monday cut isolation restrictions for Americans who catch the coronavirus from 10 to five days, and shortened the time that close contacts need to quarantine, reports The Associated Press.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials said the guidance is in keeping with growing evidence that people with the coronavirus are most infectious in the two days before and three days after symptoms develop.
The decision also was driven by a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, propelled by the Omicron variant.
Early research suggests Omicron may cause milder illnesses than earlier versions of the coronavirus, but the sheer number of people becoming infected — and therefore having to isolate or quarantine — threatens to crush the ability of hospitals, airlines and other businesses to stay open.
Monday’s announcement comes a week after the agency loosened rules that previously called on health care workers to stay out of work for 10 days if they test positive. The new recommendations said workers could go back to work after seven days if they test negative and don’t have symptoms. And the agency said isolation time could be cut to five days, or even fewer, if there are severe staffing shortages.
Now, the CDC is changing the isolation and quarantine guidance for the general public to be even less stringent.
The guidance is not a mandate but rather a recommendation to employers and state and local officials, according to AP.
The CDC said last week that Omicron is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the US, accounting for 73% of new infections last week.
Last Monday, the US recorded its first death from the Omicron variant, an unvaccinated Houston man in his 50s with underlying health conditions.