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CDC ditches 5-day COVID isolation, argues COVID is becoming flu-like (arstechnica.com)

submitted 2 years ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

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COVID-19 is becoming more like the flu and, as such, no longer requires its own virus-specific health rules, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday alongside the release of a unified "respiratory virus guide."

In a lengthy background document, the agency laid out its rationale for consolidating COVID-19 guidance into general guidance for respiratory viruses—including influenza, RSV, adenoviruses, rhinoviruses, enteroviruses, and others, though specifically not measles. The agency also noted the guidance does not apply to health care settings and outbreak scenarios.

"COVID-19 remains an important public health threat, but it is no longer the emergency that it once was, and its health impacts increasingly resemble those of other respiratory viral illnesses, including influenza and RSV," the agency wrote.

The most notable change in the new guidance is the previously reported decision to no longer recommend a minimum five-day isolation period for those infected with the pandemic coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Instead, the new isolation guidance is based on symptoms, which matches long-standing isolation guidance for other respiratory viruses, including influenza.

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[-] Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 12 points 2 years ago

Fwiw, they mostly did

No they didn't. 5 days of "normal activities with precautions" is not 5 days of "isolation".

And the core problem is that 5 days was already not scientific and "fever" isn't an indicator of infectiousness at all, it's just a symptom that some infectious people experience for some of their infectious period.

From https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35853589/:

"We showed that among the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant infected patients, viral shedding continues for ≥10 days in 13.5% of all cases and 11% in symptom-free cases. The decision for cessation of isolation according to the presence of symptoms could be reconsidered until further studies disapprove of our results."

Unfortunately, not everyone (single mothers?) has the luxury of taking a week off whenever they want or even NEED to.

The CDC changing he recommendation doesn't do anything for people who might need to leave the house for supplies or to pick up a child. They already could and would do that, because a recommendation to private citizens is just a recommendation. Where it matters is that it removes liability from their employers and "lets" them work, but that's only "helpful" because so many people are desperately poor and they haven't mandated paid sick leave when people have infectious diseases. This is the sort of "helping workers" where the help is just because they do absolutely nothing to require humane conditions from their employers. Taking a week off to not infect your fellow workers shouldn't be a "luxury".

this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2024

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