CDC may recommend shortening COVID quarantine to 7-10 days: report
The Centers for Disease Control is planning to change COVID-19 quarantine recommendations, and will ask people to isolate themselves for between seven and 10 days instead of 14, according to a report.
The shorter quarantine would come with an additional requirement: test negative for coronavirus during those seven to 10 days, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Since the pandemic altered life in the U.S. in March, the CDC has recommended that people self-quarantine for 14 days after potential exposure to coronavirus. This recommendation has been followed by several states, including New York, when instituting quarantine requirements.
Other countries, including France and Germany, have since shortened their quarantine lengths, according to the Journal. The World Health Organization still recommends 14 days of isolation.
The CDC is considering the change because it hopes more people will comply with a 7-10 day quarantine, the Journal reported.
“If we could get people to quarantine — and really quarantine, like you can’t go to the grocery store when you quarantine — then I think there’s an argument for shorter times,” Johns Hopkins epidemiologist Justin Lessler told the Journal.
Officials at the CDC are still finalizing the details of any change, according to the Journal. One sticking point is determining which type of test, whether a spit, swab or other type, would clear people to stop quarantining.
The 14-day quarantine was recommended initially because CDC-backed researchers found 99% of people who show symptoms of COVID-19 will experience those symptoms within 14 days of their infection.
The same research found that 97.5% of symptomatic people showed symptoms within 11.5 days, with 50% of them experiencing symptoms in the first five days post-infection.
