MINNEAPOLIS — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may be considering an end to the five-day isolation recommendation for people who test positive for COVID-19, according to national news reports published on Tuesday.
Citing multiple officials, the Washington Post reported that the CDC plans to shift to a "more practical approach" that would allow a return to work or school 24 hours after the end of a fever. The New York Times, meanwhile, reported that the move "is still under consideration." CDC leaders have not yet confirmed this shift in guidance, which would treat COVID in a similar manner to the flu and RSV.
The CDC implemented the five-day isolation guidance for COVID in December 2021. Originally, in 2020, the agency had recommended isolating for 14 days following a positive COVID-19 test.
Dr. Jill Foster, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School, questioned the CDC's possible decision to end the five-day rule.
"By five days, they're less contagious, but we can't guarantee that," Foster said. "I'm a bit disappointed. Throughout the pandemic, people keep equating COVID with influenza and RSV as if it's the same disease and it really isn't the same disease. I think it needs to be handled differently."
Foster said the move could have major implications in school settings.
"I think if parents have children with medical issues that would predispose them to having worse COVID," Foster said, "they need to think about that there are going to be more kids in school that are contagious."
The details and timeline for the CDC's potential move remain unclear.
So far, the states of Oregon and California have already moved to end the five-day isolation recommendation at the state level, citing higher levels of immunity and improved treatments for the virus.
"It seemed really dramatic when California unearthed these guidelines. It was done a little quietly, and what was surprising to me was how widely it was received by many walks of life, including the teachers association, the nurses association," said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. "Generally, there was a broad acceptance of this, simply because I think people realize that there are vaccines, there's early therapy."
Chin-Hong said it seems "reasonable" to end the five-day isolation recommendation at the national level.
However, he said he understands why some people would be nervous to change those guidelines, and he said he hopes that people will still consider wearing masks to slow the spread of the virus.
"Things that are not changing, is our responsibility to protect vulnerable populations and loved ones, and our responsibility to wear a mask for a period of time," Chin-Hong said. "The devil is always in the details, so we need to see exactly what the CDC will say, apart from changing isolation requirements."
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