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Medicine

CDC Cuts Isolation Time For COVID-19 Infections From 10 Days To 5 (yahoo.com) 110

Posted by BeauHD from the recommended-guidance dept.
U.S. health officials on Monday cut isolation restrictions for Americans who catch the coronavirus from 10 to five days, and similarly shortened the time that close contacts need to quarantine. The Associated Press reports: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said the guidance is in keeping with growing evidence that people with the coronavirus are most infectious in the two days before and three days after symptoms develop. The decision also was driven by a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, propelled by the omicron variant.

Early research suggests omicron may cause milder illnesses than earlier versions of the coronavirus. But the sheer number of people becoming infected -- and therefore having to isolate or quarantine -- threatens to crush the ability of hospitals, airlines and other businesses to stay open, experts say. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said the country is about to see a lot of omicron cases. "Not all of those cases are going to be severe. In fact many are going to be asymptomatic," she told The Associated Press on Monday. "We want to make sure there is a mechanism by which we can safely continue to keep society functioning while following the science."

Last week, the agency loosened rules that previously called on health care workers to stay out of work for 10 days if they test positive. The new recommendations said workers could go back to work after seven days if they test negative and don't have symptoms. And the agency said isolation time could be cut to five days, or even fewer, if there are severe staffing shortages. Now, the CDC is changing the isolation and quarantine guidance for the general public to be even less stringent. The guidance is not a mandate; it's a recommendation to employers and state and local officials.
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CDC Cuts Isolation Time For COVID-19 Infections From 10 Days To 5 More

CDC Cuts Isolation Time For COVID-19 Infections From 10 Days To 5

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  • Republican Remover (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Right wingers should stand up for their freedumbs, not get vaccinated, not wear a mask, a not isolate, great news for the worlds gene pool.

    • Re:Republican Remover (Score:5, Insightful)

      by MBGMorden ( 803437 ) on Monday December 27, 2021 @06:55PM (#62120461)

      Yes because the mortality rate is so high . . . .

      Look, I get it. I'm vaccinated and boosted. I indeed to trust the science and think the smart person may as well go ahead and get the vaccine, but you look foolish when you go the whole "LOL these idiots are going to die" route.

      COVID's mortality rate is such that across an entire population a decent number of people can die, but to the individual who catches it, the risk is minimal. Still not worth taking, but minimal. If anything your argument is hurting the pro-vax cause because the assertion that you're going to die if you don't get vaxxed is quite clearly not correct to the average person, so you say that and they basically see "well obviously they're wrong about the death part, so they're probably wrong about the whole vaccine".

      Not to mention anti-vaxx stuff isn't just split between party lines. If you look at the statistics most minorities are lower in their vaccination rates, and these are people who typically vote Democrat. If you look at at this link, figure 3: https://www.kff.org/coronaviru... [kff.org]

      You can see that Asians are the highest rate at 77%, but the black population has the lowest rate at 51% (and that's due to a recent improvement where the gap has narrowed). For better or for worse their population has a somewhat justified skepticism when it comes to government doctors and medical programs.

      Both sides are guilty of politicizing this whole thing. To the Republicans: yes the vaccines are safe. Yes, they work, but they are not a 100% magic shield that never fails. To the Democrats, no COVID19 without being vaccinated is not a death sentence, nor is is just a bunch of "dumb Republicans" who are avoiding the vaccine.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by haruchai ( 17472 )

        "Both sides are guilty of politicizing this whole thing"
        Once one side begins it's impossible to ignore for the other especially since it's the politicians who control the message.
        What was the last public health crisis that wasn't a political football?

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by classiclantern ( 2737961 )
          I have absolutely no problem with Politicians politicizing "this whole thing." That is literately their job. The tragedy in all this has been Corporate Media. Corporate Media has the responsibility to expose the political rhetoric. What happened to the Fourth Estate? Yes, they have always sensationalized stories. Remember the USS Maine? But I was hoping beyond hope that rabid outright deception and lying was a thing of the past. I was hoping the internet would provide the public with timely facts so

          • Corporate Media has the responsibility to expose the political rhetoric.

            And, to a large extent they do. Left-wing media exposes right-wing rhetoric (while adding much of their own), while right-wing media exposes left-wing rhetoric (while adding much of their own). The partisan media has a responsibility to their owners (not viewers) to get people to vote a certain way, and discrediting the opposition is an important part of that.

            I find spending equal time with left and right of center news quickly weeds out a lot of BS, and helps me avoid being manipulated by an individua

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by dryeo ( 100693 )

            How is comparing a disease that is hospitalizing people to the common cold not sensationalizing? Sounds like you're the one out of touch.

            • Re: (Score:1)

              by Anonymous Coward
              The common cold hospitalizes people, if you mean that literally more than one person went to the hospital over it.

              You are doing exactly what is being pointed out here: engaging in sensationalism for political purposes. The sad thing is that it isn't helping anything which is what we normal people want. People like you probably do want to fan the flames of division for reasons most of us will never understand. I wish people like you didn't exist so we could colonize space and usher in technological utopia

      • Yes because the mortality rate is so high . . . .

        It's about anti vaxx morons clogging up hospitals for people with real emergencies. The daily Herman Cain awards show no signs of slowing down.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by jwhyche ( 6192 )

          It's about anti vaxx morons clogging up hospitals for people with real emergencies.

          Except, they are not. Hospitals have a uptake in covid issues right now, but they are not being clogged up by them. There are also no reports of any hospital being overwhelmed by the non- vaccinated. Also, in that same vein there are no reports of any real emergencies being turned away for non-vaccinated.

          • Hospitals have a uptake in covid issues right now, but they are not being clogged up by them. There are also no reports of any hospital being overwhelmed by the non- vaccinated. Also, in that same vein there are no reports of any real emergencies being turned away for non-vaccinated.

            In addition to the political catfight, this is an era of massive, admitted, censorship and distortion of news and even interpersonal communication (e.g. via social media).

            To those suspicious of the establishment's positions and

      • Re:Republican Remover (Score:4, Insightful)

        by edwdig ( 47888 ) on Monday December 27, 2021 @10:58PM (#62120887)

        COVID's mortality rate is such that across an entire population a decent number of people can die, but to the individual who catches it, the risk is minimal. Still not worth taking, but minimal.

        Two things:

        1) The risk isn't just dying. If you get hospitalized with this and live, you're probably coming out of the hospital with permanent lung damage. And once you've got scarring in your lungs, it tends to get worse over time. Your quality of life sucks, and it takes years off your life. I've seen this first hand before. It's not fun.

        2) It's not a random scattering of people refusing to get vaccinated. The red states as a whole tend to have much lower vaccination rates, which means the outbreaks are a lot worse. If the hospitals fill up (which they have plenty of times over the past 2 years), your odds of survival go way down. You also get people dying from other issues that could have been prevented. It might not mean *you* die, but it does mean people die that didn't have to.

        The problem is you can't look at the situation at just an individual level. If some random people here and there don't get vaccinated, yeah, it's not that big a deal. The risk to them still isn't that

      • You might add that the "wellness" community has a lot of people who are pro-crystal and anti-vax.

      • but you look foolish when you go the whole "LOL these idiots are going to die" route.
        COVID's mortality rate is such that across an entire population a decent number of people can die, but to the individual who catches it, the risk is minimal.

        Wait, WE look foolish trying to convey that something like 1/100 or 3/1000 odds are actually pretty fucking bad for a highly contagious disease that everyone is expected to get? And it's OUR fault these fuckers don't get vaccinated because if it sounded less scary they might listen, are you joking?

        What are you supposed to say to an idiot that balks at 99% or 99.7% or whatever because THEY'LL probably live? The real problem, right fucking in front of you, is not caring about everyone else when given those

      • It's as if he denies the science of natural immunization and innoculation. Fancy that.

    • Can you please tell me the plasticity coefficient of your tongue as it scrapes across government shoe leather?

  • Sounds about right to me (Score:5, Interesting)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Monday December 27, 2021 @06:44PM (#62120431)

    I felt the first effects of Omicron on a Tuesday evening, by Friday I felt like I was rapidly recovering, that same Saturday I felt almost fully recovered.

    I still kept quarantine the remaining days until the 10 day window was up, but it felt pretty pointless the last five days or so...

    Also here's an interesting tidbit of information I never see discussed. An employee of the CDC for my state called me for a followup interview, and I mentioned I was getting tested every day out of curiously to see when exactly I turned negative. She said not to bother, because you could test positive for up to 90 days after you had it and were no longer contagious! So that really makes you wonder if the "new case" numbers mean anything, when it could be detecting a whole bunch of people as positive who were no longer any risk of exposing others.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hey! ( 33014 )

      You can't *feel* how infectious you are. That's been the problem all along.

      As for the bit about false positives after you've recovered, this is bound to be true of antibody tests but I checked the CDC website and apparently even a positive RT-PCR is considered ambiguous for three months after an active infection, which was news to me.

      • You can't *feel* how infectious you are. That's been the problem all along.

        Before you feel anything I agree, but can at the tail end of an infection tell how your body is changing and know roughly when you are safe to others.

        even a positive RT-PCR is considered ambiguous for three months after an active infection, which was news to me.

        Yes is it not crazy that no-one talks about the implications of this??? This has got to sweep up a lot of people in a net who may have had super mild infections a month befor

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by hey! ( 33014 )

          This has got to sweep up a lot of people in a net who may have had super mild infections a month before but just got tested because of an upcoming event or travel, that are not at risk exposing anyone at all.

          I'm sure that must be the case, but sometimes there's no practical way to answer a question with any precision and you have to balance risks with costs. My own family has been dealing with cancer this year; I have a sister who passed away a few weeks ago and a sister-in-law who is currently very sick. Some kind of rapid and definitive test would be great, because just at a time when the family would normally be pulling together we have to be very, very cautious.

          • Omicron is so infectious that taking any risk basically leaves the barn door wide open.

            These 5 day pseudo=quarantines at best only mildly slow the progress of the disease thru the population. It went from 3% of cases to 82% of cases and 3% of cases to 75% of cases in two locations-- it probably did something similar everywhere.

            It's so bloody infectious that a better plan is to self isolate and after everyone has had it then take the risk if it turns out to be mild and/or get a booster (which have some ris

            • I hate slashdot..

              It went from 3% to those higher values in 7 days.

              It's incredibly infectious. Masks will help slow it from spreading to others but have a much lower protective effect.

              And frankly- every where I go, over half (I'd say 80%) of people are no longer taking precautions.

        • Before you feel anything I agree, but can at the tail end of an infection tell how your body is changing and know roughly when you are safe to others.

          People don't care. They'll be out even if they don't feel that bad. They'll even send their covid positive kid to school when they knew the kid was sick [businessinsider.com].

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by q_e_t ( 5104099 )

          Yes is it not crazy that no-one talks about the implications of this???

          They have, it just isn't considered newsworthy by the MSM, but is widely discussed elsewhere.

          • Yes is it not crazy that no-one talks about the implications of this???

            They have, it just isn't considered newsworthy by the MSM, but is widely discussed elsewhere.

            Given their current ratings: Don't you mean "the FORMER MSM"?

            (Being able to say "Former Mainstream Media" gives me about as much joy now as "Former Soviet Union" once did.)

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by thegarbz ( 1787294 )

      I felt the first effects of Omicron on a Tuesday evening, by Friday I felt like I was rapidly recovering, that same Saturday I felt almost fully recovered.

      Considering you've posted nothing but horseshit for the past 2 years I don't think a single person reading Slashdot remotely believes you have COVID-19.

      • I don't think a single person reading Slashdot remotely believes you have COVID-19.

        Two at-home tests and a local drive up COVID-19 RT-qPCR says otherwise.

        I mean, you can believe the science or...

        I find in amusing you are such a deeply distrustful person you don't think it possible I caught a highly infectious disease that is rapidly spreading. Seems like a you problem.

        • see, the fact you're prior statements have ruined your credibility on this subject. It's clear you are not generally lacking credibility on other subjects but you have a known bias here.

          Once your credibility is gone, then further statements about tests and so on don't hold much weight.

          Nothing personal. I looked over your posting history after the other guy's post to make sure he wasn't trolling you. And I can't trust your statements. It's a problem.

        • I mean, you can believe the science or...

          You saying something so doesn't make it science. In fact it usually makes it horseshit.

          Look if you post photos of the PCR test result alongside a picture of your ID and I'll issue you a formal apology and admit that just because someone says nothing but bullshit 99% of the time doesn't mean they aren't always trolling scum.

          But Superkendall you've cried wolf so many times that just not one cares anymore. And no I still don't believe for a moment you have COVID-19, it doesn't matter how many times you say RT-

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      There's also people who stop using antibiotics because they feel better after 7 days, but it only allows the bacteria to mutate and get immunity from the antibiotic. Just because you feel better, doesn't mean you still aren't shedding the disease, or that you still aren't infected.

    • Well, you're dumb enough to be misled by the headline and bullshit summary.

      This is only for asymptomatic infections. The summary blathers about symptoms, you blather about magical thinking and feeling your infectiousness, but no, you would still be expected to isolate for 10 days under the new guidelines.

      Too bad you're aliterate. You can write sentences, you can read a headline, but you cannot successfully consume and understand even a small amount of information. And yet, in spite of that, you know every

      • This is only for asymptomatic infections.

        I realize abstract thought may be a bit beyond your capability when you get super duper angry, but to help you out :

        If someone who has symptoms feels all the way better within five days, it's a strong indicator that someone who feels no symptoms will also be better within that same time period. In other words, "Sounds about right to me".

        Perhaps next time when your dander is all up, you can wipe it out of your mind and think just a leeeetle bit before posting and bec

    • Were you vaccinated too?

  • Everyone will get COVID at some point (Score:3)

    by sinij ( 911942 ) on Monday December 27, 2021 @07:00PM (#62120479)
    Now that we know that fully vaccinated and recently boosted people can get break-through infection of Omicron, the inescapable conclusion is that everyone will get it. So it makes sense to reduce isolation time to a bare minimum.

    On a positive side, this will be over soon. South Africa data showed very quick flare up followed by equally quick drop off cases. We can expect similar situation here, as we are behind by about a month.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by haruchai ( 17472 )

      "South Africa data showed very quick flare up followed by equally quick drop off cases. We can expect similar situation here, as we are behind by about a month."
      South Africa has a much younger demographic and somewhat lower obesity in men & young people. Female obesity is quite a bit higher than in the USA.

    • >"Now that we know that fully vaccinated and recently boosted people"

      And masked and social-distanced and plexiglass-shielded.

      >"can get break-through infection of Omicron"

      Yep

      >"the inescapable conclusion is that everyone will get it."

      It is likely it will infect a very large portion of the population, yes. Although saying "everyone" is extremely unlikely.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      That's the optimistic view. The pessimistic view is that a deadlier variant of Omicron will evolve. I agree that a significantly deadlier variant is less likely, as evolution typically optimizes a virus to spread, not kill its host.

    • I'm very confused by this. The South Africa data shows a very rapid spread, then decline - but the total number of infected people was only about 0.6% of the population - which seems far too low for any herd immunity. Even if there was 20X under counting that is still true. I think that means one of the following is true:
      1) Most of the population is not susceptible to omicron. That seems very surprising and doesn't match other covid outbreaks where in local areas a large part of the population was i

    • This=omicron will soon be over, but covid in general is here to stay.

    • They should change the name of Omikron to Common Cold and get over it.

  • "Not all of those cases are going to be severe. In fact many are going to be asymptomatic"

    How many will develop Long COVID?
    Many of those will be disabled for years to come.

    • Not to mention patient isolation precautions is still 2 weeks for a positive test.

      And beyond all of the covid hospitalizations, medical staff are also dealing with the immuno-comprimised and medically weak, where an additional infection isn't doing them any favors.

      This appears to be the CDC throwing medical staff on the sacrificial altar (it's not like they aren't reusing N95s from last year), ignoring the most basic health advice- if you are sick, stay home.

      • >"This appears to be the CDC throwing medical staff on the sacrificial altar (it's not like they aren't reusing N95s from last year), ignoring the most basic health advice- if you are sick, stay home."

        They are better-defining what it means to be "sick" (infectious) so you can "stay home" (isolate) the appropriate/effective amount of time based on better data (finally). It doesn't do society any good at all for non-infectious people to "stay home", it does a lot of harm.

  • Science(tm) (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Reiyuki ( 5800436 ) on Monday December 27, 2021 @11:25PM (#62120923)
    Nowadays it's hard to tell which changes are for scientific reasons and which are for political reasons

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