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The CDC is changing their guidance for COVID-19 due in part to vaccinations and better treatments. Getty Images
  • The CDC is updating its isolation guidance for COVID-19.
  • Previously, the agency recommended people isolate from others for at least five days if they test positive for the virus
  • Under the new guidelines, people will not need to be isolated if they are fever-free for at least 24 hours without medication and if their symptoms are mild and improving.
  • Public health experts say it is the right time to revise the guidelines.

The CDC is updating isolation guidelines for COVID-19.

The agency now says if you have COVID-19, you can return to normal activities in 24 hours if your symptoms are improving and if you are fever-free without medication.

“Today’s announcement reflects the progress we have made in protecting against severe illness from COVID-19,” CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen said in a statement. “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.”

Health experts say the proposed changes are a practical step.

“It aligns with COVID becoming less severe. The mortality rate is now approaching that of influenza, which was not true earlier in the pandemic when it was four to five times higher than influenza. We don’t have any kind of special isolation rules for the general public for influenza, we do recommend people stay home when they’re sick and when they’re symptomatic. So this would be similar to what the recommendations are for influenza or other community-associated respiratory illnesses,” Dr. Dean Blumberg, Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC Davis Health told Healthline in an earlier interview.

“There’s several reasons for this,” Blumberg continued. “One of them is because people have a much higher level of immunity to COVID now because of vaccination or previous infection, so the acute infection is less dangerous for most people. People have vaccinations available. If they do get sick, there’s Paxlovid that’s available that can decrease the severity of illness. So it’s much different than earlier in the pandemic.”

Under the new changes to isolation requirements, the CDC says that those who test positive for COVID-19 do not need to be isolated if they are fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of medication and if their symptoms are mild and improving.

The new recommendations are more closely aligned with the agency’s guidance on avoiding transmission of RSV and the flu.

Public health experts who spoke with Healthline say it is the right time to change isolation requirements.

“It will be very welcomed, I think, in most of the public health community, because there have been many folks, myself included, who have been speaking to friends at the CDC for some time, thinking that the isolation guidelines need to be revisited,” Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University told Healthline in an earlier interview.

“If you have public health recommendations, and they’re being largely ignored, that’s not good. You’ve got to get in sync with what’s happening. This is not a black-and-white issue, it’s a matter of how well does this work to achieve the goal of reducing transmission. And I think there are many people who have said for some time, this is not working very well at all. It’s not really materially contributing to a reduction in transmission.”

In January, the California Department of Public Health eased its isolation requirements to be the same as those now being proposed by the CDC.

Oregon has also changed its isolation guidelines and no longer recommends people need to isolate for a set number of days.

While CDC agency officials say the changes would not apply in hospitals or health care settings with vulnerable populations, they anticipate the changes could be met with a negative response by vulnerable groups.

The CDC’s own guidance notes that older people, those who are immunocompromised, those with certain disabilities and those living with some underlying health conditions are at an increased risk of becoming very sick if they become infected with COVID-19.

Schaffner cares for a family member receiving chemotherapy. He says that even if guidelines change, he will still continue to take appropriate precautions.

“We have never stopped wearing masks when we go to the supermarket, although 99% of people have. So we’re going the extra mile, because we have a special circumstance,” said Schaffner. “That’s what I certainly would advise people to do, who are in a situation similar to ours, you’ve got to go the extra mile, because you’re in a special circumstance.”

Across the country, surveillance from wastewater indicates that rates of COVID-19 are high.

Between January 28 and February 3, there were more than 20,000 new COVID-19 hospital admissions.

Since the pandemic began, in the United States there have been more than 6.5 million hospitalizations and more than 1 million deaths due to COVID-19.

Experts say the CDC’s latest move highlights the ongoing challenge for the agency to strike a balance between public health and other community interests.

“It needs to be practical, and it needs to be science-based and protect people but to protect the most people the best, it’s totally impractical. You can’t just shut everything down like earlier in the pandemic. That’s not feasible,” Blumberg said.

“I think what’s going to be most important is the messaging associated with this. So although the isolation guidelines are easing, COVID still is clearly a serious threat to people’s health, and especially for those who are most vulnerable, they should still take extra precautions that many young healthy people who don’t have comorbidities will not be taking. I continue to recommend masking for those people who are more vulnerable.”

The CDC is ending its 5-day isolation recommendations for people with COVID-19. Experts say the change makes sense due to vaccinations and treatments for the disease.