The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have revised longstanding guidelines on when people who’ve recently tested positive for COVID-19 can return to regular activities.
If you’ve tested positive you no longer need to isolate for five days once you start feeling better. Instead, the CDC now suggests that once your symptoms have improved and you’ve been feverless for 24 hours without the use of a fever-reducing medication you can return to work, school, and other activities.
Officials do suggest that once you return to those activities, that you wear a mask and keep a distance from others for a few days.
“Today’s announcement reflects the progress we have made in protecting against severe illness from COVID-19,” said CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen. “However, we still must use the commonsense solutions we know work to protect ourselves and others from serious illness from respiratory viruses—this includes vaccination, treatment, and staying home when we get sick.”
While the guidelines have changed for the general population, that is not the case for health care facilities and nursing homes.
The Associated Press reports health officials made the decision as COVID-19 is no longer as much of a threat to public health thanks to advancements in medication, vaccines and natural immunity to the virus. At the peak of the pandemic, COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in the U.S., but was 10th last year.
The CDC still recommends that people take caution not to get sick and encourages people to wash their hands frequently, get vaccinated if possible and take steps to bring more fresh air into your home.
Although the change has been discussed for several weeks, some people are concerned that altering the guidelines will lead to some people resuming their daily routine earlier than they should.
“My biggest worry in all of this is that employers will take this change in guidance to require employees to come back to work ... before they are ready to, before they feel well enough, and before they are not likely to pose harm to their co-workers,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University’s School of Public Health.
The guidelines last changed in late 2021 when officials dropped the isolation period from 10 days down to 5.