The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new guidelines that ease many restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including social distancing and quarantine protocols.
The announcement also includes the removal of test-to-stay for schools while freeing businesses from the onus of requiring unvaccinated people exposed to the virus to quarantine at home. The changes are a drastic move away from measures that polarized much of the country.
CDC's New Guidelines
It also effectively acknowledges the way many Americans have been navigating the pandemic for quite some time. The health agency's action also comes as children across the United States return to school and many officers have started reopening.
During a Thursday news briefing, a CDC epidemiologist, Greta Massetti, said that COVID-19 is "here to stay." She noted that high levels of population immunity due to vaccination and previous infection along with the tools that are available will protect people from severe illness and death.
The new guidelines come after more than two years of a pandemic where more than 1 million Americans have lost their lives. They also come as the highly contagious BA.5 subvariant of Omicron continues to spread across the country, as per the New York Times.
The U.S. has recorded more than 100,000 cases and nearly 500 deaths per day on average but many Americans dispensed with practices such as social distancing, quarantine, and mask-wearing long ago.
An infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, Michael T. Osterholm said that the CDC is attempting to meet up with the reality that everyone in the public is pretty much with this pandemic.
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According to CNN, the new guidelines also say that contact tracing, which is another hallmark during the pandemic, should be limited to hospitals and certain high-risk group-living situations such as nursing homes, and the guidelines de-emphasize the use of regular testing to screen for COVID-19.
Removing Various Restrictions
They also do not advise quarantining people who have been exposed to the virus but are not infected. The health agency does keep some measures the same, including encouraging testing for people with symptoms and their close contacts.
The guidelines also say that people who test positive should stay at home for at least five days and wear a mask around others for at least 10 days. They added a recommendation that people wear masks indoors in about half of the country.
Furthermore, the CDC's new guidelines tailor advice on isolation for people who became very sick from COVID-19. People with moderate symptoms, such as shortness of breath, and those who were hospitalized should stay home for at least 10 days. On the other hand, people with compromised immune systems should consult their doctors about ending isolation after infection.
The new guidelines come as school districts across the country have scaled back their COVID-19 precautions in recent weeks even before the latest guidance was issued. Some have also promised a return to pre-pandemic schooling environments.
In most districts, masks will be optional when classes resume this fall and some of the country's largest districts have dialed back or eliminated COVID-19 testing requirements entirely, the Associated Press reported.
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