CDC Shortens COVID-19 Quarantine Time

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reduced the isolation time for people infected with coronavirus from 10 to five days.

"Given what we currently know about Covid-19 and the Omicron variant, CDC is shortening the recommended time for isolation from 10 days for people with Covid-19 to 5 days, if asymptomatic, followed by five days of wearing a mask when around others," said the agency in a statement on Monday.

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The Omicron variant is spreading quickly and has the potential to impact all facets of our society. CDC's updated recommendations for isolation and quarantine balance what we know about the spread of the virus and the protection provided by vaccination and booster doses.

The change is motivated by science demonstrating that the majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the one to two days prior to the onset of symptoms and the two to three days after, according to the CDC.

"Therefore, people who test positive should isolate for five days and, if asymptomatic at that time, they may leave isolation if they can continue to mask for five days to minimize the risk of infecting others," said the US health agency.

The CDC has also updated its recommendation of the quarantine period for those exposed to COVID-19. For people who are unvaccinated or are more than six months out from their second mRNA dose or more than two months after the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and not yet boosted, CDC recommends quarantine for five days followed by strict mask use for an additional five days, Xinhua news agency reported.

Test your Knowledge on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Coronavirus is a large positive-strand RNA virus that is surrounded by a protein envelope. The virus obtains its name from the S protein spikes on its surface, which resemble a crown. The overall pattern of increasing coronavirus cases is shown to spike up with the “second wave” of COVID-19.

With spiking effects of the second wave of coronavirus, the best way to keep it at bay is to follow COVID-appropriate safety practices like wearing a mask, regularly cleaning your hands, and coughing into a bent elbow or tissue along with physical distancing (6 feet about 2 arm's length), that may help evade the severity of COVID-19 infection.

Individuals who have received their booster shot do not need to quarantine the following exposure but should wear a mask for ten days after the exposure, said the agency.

Source-IANS

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