CDC Guidelines

As the Omicron wave of Covid-19 washed over the American Northeast and started to spread nationwide, familiar public-health officials and commentators suddenly started to say things that were previously unsayable. And CDC guidance started changing rapidly.

Things such as “your masks are useless.” And “the hospitalization figures for Covid in children are overcounted.” And “we need to stop focusing on cases and start focusing on hospitalizations.” And even that public-health regulations had to retreat to the point at which they would be tolerated by the public.

More than 200,000 people are testing positive for COVID-19 in the U.S. each day. Until this week, a positive test meant you should stay home for 10 days to avoid infecting others. Now, those who don't have symptoms after five days can go back to their regular activities, as long as they wear a mask, according to updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The change in guidance released Monday was "motivated by science demonstrating that the majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the course of illness," according to the CDC.

The Centers for Disease Control has moved one step closer to changing the definition of fully vaccinated to include only those who have received a booster.

Earlier, I noted how the CDC arbitrarily halved its quarantine guidance from ten days to five. But one other thing I found interesting is that in its revised guidance for those who have been exposed, it lumps in vaccinated individuals who have not been boosted with those who were never vaccinated.

The guidance reads:

U.S. health officials on Monday cut isolation restrictions for asymptomatic Americans who catch the coronavirus from 10 to five days, and similarly shortened the time that close contacts need to quarantine.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 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.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in a reversal of a previous recommendation, cut the number of days of isolation for Americans who contract COVID-19 from 10 days to five days regardless of vaccination status.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday shortened the recommended times that people should isolate when they've tested positive for Covid-19 from 10 days to five days if they don't have symptoms -- and if they wear a mask around others for at least five more days.

The CDC also shortened the recommended time for people to quarantine if they are exposed to the virus to a similar five days if they are vaccinated. People who are fully vaccinated and boosted may not need to quarantine at all, the CDC said.

The CDC says some schools can drop mask mandates — but not all of them.

As the US quickly returns to a pre-pandemic normal, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now working to ensure that schools do the same — releasing new guidelines last week outlining, in part, when schools should still consider mandating masks.

Why the CDC is so confident that (most) fully vaccinated people can go maskless.

After a year of public health guidance to wear masks whenever we are out in public, taking them off after being vaccinated may feel ... weird. The trauma of the pandemic has etched a new set of social norms deep within many minds. And central to those norms is mask-wearing.

“In a major step toward returning to pre-pandemic life, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people on Thursday, allowing them to stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and in most indoor settings.” (AP News)

Both sides highlight the political implications of the new guidance:

With some countries rapidly inoculating their populations against the coronavirus, and pandemic fatigue deepening, a common question has reverberated around the world: When can the masks come off?

In the United States, fully vaccinated individuals can now leave their masks behind when walking, jogging, biking or dining with friends outdoors, federal officials said Tuesday. Ditching a mask at small outdoor gatherings is also deemed safe, but the CDC still recommends masks for indoor activities.