NEW YORK – The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday relaxed COVID-19 guidance, dropping its recommendation that Americans self-isolate if they’ve been in close contact with an infected person.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also says people no longer need to stay at least 6 feet away from others.
The changes are driven by the recognition that – more than 2 and a half years since the start of the pandemic – an estimated 95% of Americans 16 years of age and older have acquired some degree of immunity, since being vaccinated. strain or become infected, agency officials said.
“The current conditions of this pandemic are very different from two years ago,” said Greta Massetti of the CDC, an author of the guidance.
Read more: Biden Administration Calls for a ‘Join Hand’ Effort for Long-Term COVID Research
The CDC’s recommendations apply to everyone in the United States, but these changes could be especially important for schools, which resume classes this month in many parts of the country.
Perhaps the biggest education-related change, officials said, is the practice of schools periodically implementing daily testing, although that method could be reinstated in certain situations in period of increasing infections, officials said.
The CDC also dropped its “test to stay” recommendation, which said that students exposed to COVID-19 can be routinely tested — rather than isolated at home — to continue attending school. No longer suggesting quarantine, the testing option is gone too.
Masks continue to be recommended only in areas of high transmission in the community, or if a person is considered to be at high risk for severe illness.
Zhang province across the US have eased their COVID-19 precautions in recent weeks even before the CDC eased its guidance.
Read more: The Women Who Revolutionized Nursing During the American Civil War
Masks will be optional in most school districts when classes resume this fall, and some of the nation’s largest school districts have recalled or removed them. COVID-19 test request.
Some have also left the pilot programs to stay unmanageable for the time being Omicron variant previous school year. With so many new infections among students and staff, many schools have struggled to trace and test their close contacts, leading to a temporary return to classrooms in the area. remote areas.
The average number of reported COVID-19 cases and deaths has been relatively stable this summer, around 100,000 cases per day and 300 to 400 deaths.
The CDC previously said that if people don’t update their COVID-19 vaccination close contact with a person who has tested positive, they should stay home for at least five days. Currently, the agency says home quarantine is not necessary, but it requires these people to wear high-quality masks for 10 days and get tested after 5 days.
The agency went on to say that people who test positive should isolate themselves from others for at least five days, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated. CDC officials advise people to end isolation if they have not had a fever in 24 hours without medication and they are asymptomatic or their symptoms are improving.
Other must-read stories from TIME
