The federal government is considering relaxing its guidance for people with Covid-19 to isolated for 10 days after developing symptoms, as the U.S. faces a likely huge influx of mild breakthrough cases from the highly transmissible.
On December 1st, Anthony Fauci gave an update on the Omicron Covid-19 variant at the White House.
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Fauci told CNN that changing the guidance is an important consideration that is being discussed.
The 10-day period may be excessive for people who have received booster shots and only have mild breakthrough cases, according to Dr. Anish K. Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.
Fauci said changing the guidance was being discussed in the context of healthcare workers.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not yet responded to a request for comment, but a spokesman previously told the Atlantic that any changes to shortening isolation or quark guidance will be made based on science and research.
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If healthcare workers are symptom-free, they can return to work sooner than the full seven to 10 day period.
The number is big.
1 million. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institute of Health, warned on Sunday that the U.S. could potentially record hundreds of Covid-19 cases per day. The variant is linked to more Covid-19 cases in the U.S. than the week before, and studies suggest initial Covid-19 vaccine doses are not as effective as they could be. Booster shots seem to provide more protection, though breakthrough cases are still possible, and vaccines seem to remain highly protective against severe disease and death.
If you have been tested positive for Covid-19, the Centers for Disease Control recommends isolating yourself from others for 10 days after symptoms develop, with the day you develop symptoms counting as day zero and the day after that as day one of the isolation period. If they develop symptoms within 10 days after testing positive for Covid-19, the 10 days would start over. As more people get vaccine, the guidance has come under more scrutiny. Public health experts suggest that people who are positive for Covid-19 could be let out of isolation as soon as five days after developing symptoms. The University of SASkbury's vaccine expert said that people who are fully vaccine free are probably not a risk to anyone anymore.
Omicron is the dominant covid variant in the US.
Do people with Covid-19 need to be isolated for 10 days? The Fast Company.
Why are we isolating people for 10 days? (Atlantic)
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