People who test positive for Covid-19 no longer need to routinely stay away from others for at least five days, according to new guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued Friday.
The change ends a strategy from earlier in the pandemic that experts said has been important to controlling the spread of the infection.
The agency says it’s updating its recommendations for Covid-19 to bring them in line with its advice for other kinds of respiratory infections, including influenza and RSV. Offering a single set of unified guidance will make people more likely to follow it, agency experts said in a news briefing Friday.
Namely, the CDC now says people who have Covid-19 should stay home until they’ve been fever-free without medication for at least 24 hours and their symptoms have been improving for 24 hours.
After that, it’s fine to resume regular activities, agency experts say. But they recommend that people take additional precautions for the next five days — including improving ventilation, masking and limiting close contact with others — to lower the risk of spreading the virus.
These enhanced precautions are particularly important for people who are around vulnerable individuals, such as those who are elderly or have immune function that’s been blunted by medication or an illness, like cancer.
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