Category: Corona Virus

Key Takeaways

People with COVID-19 no longer need to isolate for five days before returning to work or school, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.

Under the updated guidance, people can leave their homes if they have been fever-free for 24 hours without the aid of medications and if their symptoms are improving.

The CDC said it is making the change due to lower rates of COVID hospitalizations and deaths and the availability of tools to combat respiratory viruses.

Todays announcement reflects the progress we have made in protecting against severe illness from COVID-19, said Mandy Cohen, Director of the CDC, in a press release. However, we still must use the commonsense solutions we know work to protect ourselves and others from serious illness from respiratory virusesthis includes vaccination, treatment, and staying home when we get sick.

The COVID isolation guidance now aligns with recommendations for influenza and respiratory syncytial viruses. The agency said that unifying the approach makes it easier to follow without relying on people to test for illness.

Streamlining those recommendations is more logically consistent, said Marc Sala, MD, pulmonary and critical care specialist and co-director of the Northwestern Medicine Comprehensive COVID-19 Center.

The tradeoff is youre going to have more transmission, and you just have to be ready to deal with what that entails, he told Verywell.

The change may lead to people who are still contagious intermingling at work, at school, and in healthcare settings.

The virus appears to be evolving so that it causes less severe disease but is more transmissible than prior versions. Compared to the original Omicron variant, the now-dominant JN.1 may not cause someone to get quite as sick, but they are more likely to spread the virus to others.

Because isolation and quarantine have long been associated with a positive test result, these new guidelines might seem like a major departure from the accepted science, said Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and former White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said in a statement. The reality is that they represent an important, and reasonable, evolution in our response to the virus and to the impacts of isolation on peoples lives.

Sala said it makes sense to promote public health recommendations that are clear and easy to follow. You dont want to make a recommendation that is just completely Ivory Tower and impractical, he added.

However, he said, many people dont follow the CDC COVID safety recommendations to begin with. A more lenient isolation policy is not likely to benefit those who are most vulnerable to disease.

Unfortunately, if you make an accommodation to more of a general public opinion about isolation precautions, you end up conceding in a way that only benefits people who were not going to follow it anyway, Sala said.

While the isolation guidance has changed, the recommendations for other COVID-protective measures remain unchanged.

The best way to avoid serious illness from COVID is to be up-to-date with your vaccinations.

In the five days after someone leaves isolation, they should still take precautions, like wearing a mask, keeping a distance from others, and purifying indoor air or bringing in more outdoor air.

Wearing a snug-fitting N95 face mask can help reduce your chances of being exposed to COVID, even if others around you arent wearing masks.

The CDC guidance includes special considerations for people most vulnerable to serious complications of infection, like immunocompromised, pregnant, and older people.

Anyone who is at higher risk for complications from a COVID infection should consider taking Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir) or another antiviral medication.

According to Sala, Paxlovid is now relatively easy to access and proves to substantially reduce the risk of severe COVID.

If you are sick with COVID, talk to a health provider if you are unsure about whether you would benefit from taking Paxlovid and for how long you should isolate or wear a mask to avoid spreading the disease to others.

The information in this article is current as of the date listed, which means newer information may be available when you read this. For the most recent updates on COVID-19, visit ourcoronavirus news page.

By Claire Bugos Claire Bugos is a senior news reporter at Verywell Health.

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CDC Shortens COVID-19 Isolation Period - Verywell Health

Of all the lingering symptoms of long Covid, difficulty focusing and thinking, known as brain fog, may be the most frightening and baffling. A new study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, which looks at how much cognition is impaired in the months after a coronavirus infection, shows that Covid-19s impact can be measured in the equivalent of IQ points.

Researchers from Imperial College London found that even people who recovered from their Covid symptoms in four to 12 weeks had the equivalent of an IQ score three points lower than in uninfected people. Among those with long Covid defined as symptoms lasting more than 12 weeks after testing positive the drop was six IQ points. For people whose disease was severe enough to require hospital care, the deficit deepened to nine points.

People whose persistent symptoms had resolved by the time they took the test performed about as well as people whod had symptoms that didnt last very long.

What our study shows is that brain fog can correlate with objectively measurable deficits in a persons actual memory and executive task performance, lead study author Adam Hampshire, professor of restorative neurosciences at Imperial College London, said Wednesday on a call with reporters.

The online tests, which entailed eight tasks, were not IQ exams, but the authors equated their results with more familiar IQ measures. They stressed that the differences they noticed in the observational study were modest and measured between groups at a single time point, not in individuals followed over time. Still, the lower test scores, even for people who have short-duration symptoms, were a bit surprising to us, Hampshire said. The individuals themselves I dont think would recognize that theres any effect. Its really just looking at these very large numbers and finding quite small differences.

The study results came from more than 112,000 people in England who answered questionnaires about their infections and then took tests measuring such cognitive abilities as memory, reasoning, and planning. They are part of the much larger REACT research program, which is based on a random sample of people across England.

Testing took place when people were at different stages of their illness or recovery. People with unresolved persistent symptoms performed worse on the cognitive tests in terms of both speed and accuracy, particularly on memory and planning tasks. Those whod been in hospital intensive care units had more and different weaknesses, such as in two-dimensional spatial processing, compared to others whod had Covid.

We dont know what the clinical and cognitive long-term effects might be, for people still living with long Covid, senior study author Paul Elliott, chair of epidemiology and public health medicine at Imperial College London, said at the press briefing. And so following that cohort, we think, is very important in doing ongoing surveillance.

For the current study, being vaccinated slightly narrowed gaps in cognitive performance between those who had Covid and the 40% of survey respondents who didnt, while reinfection meant a minimal additional loss compared to single infections, Elliott said. People who caught the original SARS-CoV-2 strain and the Alpha strain of the virus fared worse than those infected by the Delta and Omicron variants later in the pandemic, a finding in line with other studies saying people whose Covid infections were more severe were more likely to have worse problems later.

The new study raises questions about what these IQ declines mean and if theyll disappear, a companion editorial says. What are the functional implications of a 3-point loss in IQ? Ziyad Al-Aly of Washington University in St. Louis and Clifford Rosen of Tufts University School of Medicine ask. Whether these cognitive deficits persist or resolve along with predictors and trajectory of recovery should be investigated.

Hampshire said causation cant be inferred directly from an observational study, and while differences are clear, the reasons for those differences arent.

I was fully expecting that we would see some of these deficits in the hospitalized group. I was thinking we would likely see some cognitive deficits in people who had ongoing, long-term persistent symptoms, Hampshire said. I was not expecting that we would see even small cognitive differences in the shorter-duration symptom groups, and we just dont know all the implications of that.

While some issues remain unresolved, putting numbers to the problem is a crucial step on the way to developing any treatment, Steven Deeks, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, told STAT.

We need drug companies to get involved and make and design their own studies and fund their own studies, particularly Big Pharma, said Deeks, who was not involved in the study. Perhaps this paper will provide a road map to some endpoints that will make it easier to design a study, to power a study, to fund a study, to conduct a study, to interpret a study.

Research on the mechanisms of long Covid is flourishing, said Deeks, who thinks the National Institutes of Health is making progress in its RECOVER initiative. But where were making zero ground is in coming up with therapies.

Elliott, who is also director of the REACT program, sees hopeful signs in the new study results. First, as the pandemic progressed from the original virus to Omicron, the association between symptoms and cognitive deficits weakened. Second, around a third of people with persistent cognitive symptoms saw them resolve.

The important thing is that if they had persistent symptoms and then those symptoms resolved, they looked cognitively like the other people whod had Covid, the short-duration people, he said. I think its encouraging that if once it resolves and you no longer report symptoms, then basically you look much more like everybody else whod had Covid, rather than looking like the people whove still got ongoing symptoms.

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NEJM study measures Covid brain fog, impact on IQ - STAT

The updated recommendation is now similar to that of the flu and other respiratory illnesses.

NORFOLK, Va. People who test positive for COVID-19 no longer need to stay in isolation for five days.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)announced Fridayits doing away with that guidance.

The health agency now recommends people who test positive stay home until symptoms are mild and improving and they've gone at least 24 hours without a fever. However, the change does not apply to nursing homes and health care facilities.

"Whether it's an exact five days or not, it's just important to stay home if you're sick," said Karen McGoldrick, a clinical infection preventionist at Sentara Leigh Hospital.

McGoldrick said the change comes now that most people have some degree of immunity to the virus.

"For the most part, most people aren't as severely ill as they were, say, two years ago when it was at the height," she explained.

McGoldrick said it's likely many weren't following the isolation guidance anyway.

"Just like anything else, just because somebody gives guidelines, doesn't mean everybody followed it," McGoldrick said. "I don't know that everyone truly was isolating at home for five days. We hope they were."

The CDC's COVID-19 recommendations are now similar to that of the flu and other respiratory illnesses. The health agency calls it a"unified approach."

Still, health experts urge caution.

"One thing that's different about [COVID-19], it seems to be a little bit more serious of an illness than the flu in a lot of cases, and there's a lot more complications after COVID...than with the flu," McGoldrick said.

The CDC still recommends people get vaccinated and wash their hands to prevent getting infected in the first place.

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What to know about CDC's updated COVID-19 guidelines - 13newsnow.com WVEC

FILE - A student receives a temperature check before leaving the car to enter STAR Eco Station Tutoring & Enrichment Center on Sept. 2, 2020 in Culver City, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Americans who test positive for COVID-19 no longer need to stay in isolation for five days, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Friday.

The health agency changed its longstanding guidance, saying people can return to work or regular activities if their symptoms are mild and improving and they have not had a fever for a day.

The change comes at a time when COVID-19 is no longer the public health menace it once was. It dropped from being the nation's third leading cause of death early in the pandemic to 10th last year.

Most people have some degree of immunity to the coronavirus from past vaccinations or from infections. And many people are not following the five-day isolation guidance anyway, some experts say.

"Our goal here is to continue to protect those at risk for severe illness while also reassuring folks that these recommendations are simple, clear, easy to understand, and can be followed," said Dr. Mandy Cohen, the CDCs director.

However, some experts worry that the change may increase the risk of infection for those people who are more vulnerable to developing severe illness.

This is not the first time the CDC has changed its guidance on how long people who have been infected with COVID-19 should stay isolated.

Originally, it was 10 days, but in late 2021, the agency cut that down to five for Americans who catch the virus but did not have symptoms or only had a brief illness.

Under that guidance, isolation only ends if a person has been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications and if other symptoms are resolving.

At the time, agency officials said the changes were in keeping with evidence that people with the coronavirus were most infectious in the two days before and three days after symptoms develop.

If you have symptoms, stay home until your symptoms are mild and improving and its been a day since you've had a fever. But then you can remain cautious by wearing a mask and keeping a distance from others.

There is no change to guidelines for nursing homes and health care facilities, however.

The agency is emphasizing that people should still try to prevent infections in the first place, by getting vaccinated, washing their hands, and taking steps to bring in more outdoor fresh air.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.

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5-day isolation for COVID-19 no longer needed, CDC says - LiveNOW from FOX

Vapers are susceptible to infection by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that spreads COVID-19 and continues to infect people around the world, a University of California, Riverside, study has found.

The liquid used in electronic cigarettes, called e-liquid, typically contains nicotine, propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, and flavor chemicals. The researchers found propylene glycol/vegetable glycerin alone or along with nicotine enhanced COVID-19 infection through different mechanisms.

Study resultsappear in the American Journal of Physiology.

The researchers also found that the addition of benzoic acid to e-liquids prevents the infection caused by propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, and nicotine.

Users who vape aerosols produced from propylene glycol/vegetable glycerin alone or e-liquids with a neutral to basic pH are more likely to be infected by the virus, while users who vape aerosols made from e-liquids with benzoic acid -; an acidic pH -; will have the same viral susceptibility as individuals who do not vape."

Rattapol Phandthong, postdoctoral researcher, Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biologyand research paper's first author

The researchers obtained airway stem cells from human donors to produce a 3D tissue model of human bronchial epithelium. They then exposed the tissues to JUUL and BLU electronic cigarette aerosols to study the effect on SARS-CoV-2 infection. They found all tissues showed an increase in the amount of ACE2, a host cell receptor for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Further, TMPRSS2, an enzyme essential for the virus to infect cells, was found to show increased activity in tissues exposed to aerosols with nicotine.

Prue Talbot, a professor of the graduate division and Phandthong's advisor, said e-cigarette users should be cautious about vaping as some products will increase their susceptibility to SARs-CoV-2 infection.

"It would probably be best for vapers to quit vaping for the protection of their health and to stop nicotine dependency," she said. "If they cannot stop vaping, it is better to vape aerosols produced from an e-liquid with acidic pH or with benzoic acid to prevent the enhanced SARS-CoV-2 infection caused by nicotine, propylene glycol, and vegetable glycerin. However, inhalation of benzoic acid has its own risk, and data is still limited on this topic."

The researchers acknowledge that the relationship between e-cigarettes and SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility is complex.

"The complexity is attributed to a wide range of available e-liquids, the chemical composition of each e-liquid, and different models of e-cigarettes," Phandthong said. "Our study only used Classic Tobacco Flavor JUUL e-cigarette and BLU Classic Tobacco e-cigarette. Even with just these two e-cigarettes, we found the aerosols and individual ingredients produced different effects on SARS-CoV-2 infection."

Phandthong and Talbot hope the Food and Drug Administration will use their findings to implement regulatory laws on e-cigarette products.

"Our findings could also help improve the design of clinical trials involving the use of tobacco products and SARS-CoV-2 infection," Phandthong said. "In the meantime, it is worth bearing in mind that the scientific literature has shown that a vaper who contracted SARS-CoV-2 has more complications during the recovery period and is more likely to develop long COVID-19, which can be serious and last many months post-infection. We hope our findings encourage vapers to stop vaping and discourage non-users from starting to vape."

Phandthong acknowledged the team only investigated the initial stage of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

"There are many later stages involved in infection, such as viral replication," he said. "It is likely that these additional stages can also be affected by inhalation of e-cigarette aerosols."

Phandthong and Talbot were joined in the study by Man Wong, Ann Song, and Teresa Martinez.

The research was funded by grants from the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Center for Tobacco Products of the Food and Drug Administration, and California Institute of Regenerative Medicine.

Source:

Journal reference:

Phandthong, R., et al. (2023). Does Vaping Increase the Likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 Infection? Paradoxically Yes and No.American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology. doi.org/10.1152/ajplung.00300.2022.

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Vaping increases susceptibility to COVID-19 infection, study finds - News-Medical.Net

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially changed its COVID-19 guidance on Friday, March 1.

What does it mean and how could it affect your everyday life?

Heres what to know:

The CDC no longer recommends that people who test positive for the novel coronavirus need to stay home for at least five days. However, you should still take precautions during that time.

Under the new guidelines, people can leave home isolation if they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours without fever-reducing medication, and their symptoms are not severe and are improving. This aligns with the guidance for other respiratory illnesses, including flu and RSV.

Acknowledging that people can be contagious even without symptoms, the CDC urged those who end isolation to limit close contact with others, wear well-fitted masks, improve indoor air quality and practice good hygiene, like washing hands and covering coughs and sneezes, for five days, The New York Times reported Friday.

Similar to the CDCs guidance, California public health officials say the length of someones isolation period should be determined based on the severity of their symptoms.

Under the state Department of Public Health recommendation, updated in January, Californians who test positive for the coronavirus no longer need to isolate for five days.

CDPH recommends people who test positive for COVID-19 stay home until they:

Reports first started circulating in mid-February about the potential changes to CDC guidelines.

At the time, Dr. Peter Chin-Hong told The Sacramento Bee that I think its reasonable to move on, but it comes with a responsibility. Hes a professor at UC San Francisco and specializes in infectious disease.

He said navigating the new protocols would mean an ongoing and collective effort to test and wear masks when sick, stay up to date on vaccinations and prioritize safety for the most vulnerable.

Chin-Hong said determining how to approach this new phase of COVID-19, four years after the pandemic, is really complex.

U.S. residential households are eligible for another round of free at-home COVID-19 self-tests through the U.S. Postal Service.

Each order includes four individual rapid antigen COVID-19 tests.

What do you want to know about life in Sacramento? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email servicejournalists@sacbee.com.

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CDC shortens COVID-19 isolation period and aligns with California. Here's what to know - Yahoo News

From the very early days of the pandemic, brain fog emerged as a significant health condition that many experience after COVID-19.

Brain fog is a colloquial term that describes a state of mental sluggishness or lack of clarity and haziness that makes it difficult to concentrate, remember things and think clearly.

Fast-forward four years and there is now abundant evidence that being infected with SARS-CoV-2 the virus that causes COVID-19 can affect brain health in many ways.

In addition to brain fog, COVID-19 can lead to an array of problems, including headaches, seizure disorders, strokes, sleep problems, and tingling and paralysis of the nerves, as well as several mental health disorders.

A large and growing body of evidence amassed throughout the pandemic details the many ways that COVID-19 leaves an indelible mark on the brain. But the specific pathways by which the virus does so are still being elucidated, and curative treatments are nonexistent.

Now, two new studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine shed further light on the profound toll of COVID-19 on cognitive health.

I am a physician scientist, and I have been devoted to studying long COVID since early patient reports about this condition even before the term long COVID was coined. I have testified before the U.S. Senate as an expert witness on long COVID and have published extensively on this topic.

Here are some of the most important studies to date documenting how COVID-19 affects brain health:

Large epidemiological analyses showed that people who had COVID-19 were at an increased risk of cognitive deficits, such as memory problems.

Imaging studies done in people before and after their COVID-19 infections show shrinkage of brain volume and altered brain structure after infection.

A study of people with mild to moderate COVID-19 showed significant prolonged inflammation of the brain and changes that are commensurate with seven years of brain aging.

Severe COVID-19 that requires hospitalization or intensive care may result in cognitive deficits and other brain damage that are equivalent to 20 years of aging.

Laboratory experiments in human and mouse brain organoids designed to emulate changes in the human brain showed that SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers the fusion of brain cells. This effectively short-circuits brain electrical activity and compromises function.

Autopsy studies of people who had severe COVID-19 but died months later from other causes showed that the virus was still present in brain tissue. This provides evidence that contrary to its name, SARS-CoV-2 is not only a respiratory virus, but it can also enter the brain in some individuals. But whether the persistence of the virus in brain tissue is driving some of the brain problems seen in people who have had COVID-19 is not yet clear.

Studies show that even when the virus is mild and exclusively confined to the lungs, it can still provoke inflammation in the brain and impair brain cells ability to regenerate.

COVID-19 can also disrupt the blood brain barrier, the shield that protects the nervous system which is the control and command center of our bodies making it leaky. Studies using imaging to assess the brains of people hospitalized with COVID-19 showed disrupted or leaky blood brain barriers in those who experienced brain fog.

A large preliminary analysis pooling together data from 11 studies encompassing almost 1 million people with COVID-19 and more than 6 million uninfected individuals showed that COVID-19 increased the risk of development of new-onset dementia in people older than 60 years of age.

Most recently, a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine assessed cognitive abilities such as memory, planning and spatial reasoning in nearly 113,000 people who had previously had COVID-19. The researchers found that those who had been infected had significant deficits in memory and executive task performance.

This decline was evident among those infected in the early phase of the pandemic and those infected when the delta and omicron variants were dominant. These findings show that the risk of cognitive decline did not abate as the pandemic virus evolved from the ancestral strain to omicron.

In the same study, those who had mild and resolved COVID-19 showed cognitive decline equivalent to a three-point loss of IQ. In comparison, those with unresolved persistent symptoms, such as people with persistent shortness of breath or fatigue, had a six-point loss in IQ. Those who had been admitted to the intensive care unit for COVID-19 had a nine-point loss in IQ. Reinfection with the virus contributed an additional two-point loss in IQ, as compared with no reinfection.

Generally the average IQ is about 100. An IQ above 130 indicates a highly gifted individual, while an IQ below 70 generally indicates a level of intellectual disability that may require significant societal support.

To put the finding of the New England Journal of Medicine study into perspective, I estimate that a three-point downward shift in IQ would increase the number of U.S. adults with an IQ less than 70 from 4.7 million to 7.5 million an increase of 2.8 million adults with a level of cognitive impairment that requires significant societal support.

Another study in the same issue of the New England Journal of Medicine involved more than 100,000 Norwegians between March 2020 and April 2023. It documented worse memory function at several time points up to 36 months following a positive SARS-CoV-2 test.

Taken together, these studies show that COVID-19 poses a serious risk to brain health, even in mild cases, and the effects are now being revealed at the population level.

A recent analysis of the U.S. Current Population Survey showed that after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, an additional 1 million working-age Americans reported having serious difficulty remembering, concentrating or making decisions than at any time in the preceding 15 years. Most disconcertingly, this was mostly driven by younger adults between the ages of 18 to 44.

Data from the European Union shows a similar trend in 2022, 15% of people in the EU reported memory and concentration issues.

Looking ahead, it will be critical to identify who is most at risk. A better understanding is also needed of how these trends might affect the educational attainment of children and young adults and the economic productivity of working-age adults. And the extent to which these shifts will influence the epidemiology of dementia and Alzheimers disease is also not clear.

The growing body of research now confirms that COVID-19 should be considered a virus with a significant impact on the brain. The implications are far-reaching, from individuals experiencing cognitive struggles to the potential impact on populations and the economy.

Lifting the fog on the true causes behind these cognitive impairments, including brain fog, will require years if not decades of concerted efforts by researchers across the globe. And unfortunately, nearly everyone is a test case in this unprecedented global undertaking.

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Mounting research shows that COVID-19 leaves its mark on the brain, including with significant drops in IQ scores - The Conversation Indonesia

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WFFT) - The Allen County Department of Health (ACDH) released an update today on the state of COVID-19 in Allen County.

They reported eight deaths and 882 positive cases from February 3 to today, bringing totals to 134,716 cases and 1,316 deaths as of today.

Other updates relating to COVID-19 can be found on the ACDH's COVID-19 website, which is time-stamped to provide the latest local data to the public.

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Latest COVID-19 update released by the Allen County Department of Health - WFFT FOX 55 Fort Wayne | Indiana News & Weather

By BIANCA VZQUEZ TONESS and MORIAH BALINGIT (AP Education Writers)

Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools and upended child care, the CDC says parents can start treating the virus like other respiratory illnesses.

Gone are mandated isolation periods and masking. But will schools and child care centers agree?

In case youve lost track: Before Friday, all Americans, including school children, were supposed to stay home for at least five days if they had COVID-19 and then mask for a set period of time, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Now the CDC says children can go back to school when their overall symptoms improve and theyre fever-free for 24 hours without taking medication. Students are encouraged to wear a mask when they return.

Still, the change may not affect how individual schools urge parents to react when their children fall sick. Schools and child care providers have a mixed record on following CDC recommendations and often look to local authorities for the ultimate word. And sometimes other goals, such as reducing absences, can influence a state or districts decisions.

The result can be a confusing variation among states and districts, confounding parents whose lives have long been upended by the virus.

For example, during the 2021-2022 school year, only 18 states followed CDC recommendations for mask-wearing in class. When the CDC lifted its masking guidelines in February of 2022, states like Massachusetts followed suit, but California kept the mask requirement for schools.

And in the child care world, some providers have long used more stringent testing and isolation protocols than the CDC has recommended. Reasons have ranged from trying to prevent outbreaks to keeping staff healthy both for their personal safety and to keep the day care open.

Some states moved to more lenient guidelines ahead of the CDC. California and Oregon recently rescinded COVID-19 isolation requirements, and many districts followed their advice.

In an attempt to minimize school absences and address an epidemic of chronic absenteeism, California has encouraged kids to come to school when mildly sick and said that students who test positive for coronavirus but are asymptomatic can attend school. Los Angeles and San Diegos school systems, among others, have adopted that policy.

But the majority of districts around the country still have asked parents to isolate children for at least five days before returning to school. Some, including Boston and Atlanta, have required students to mask for another five days and report positive COVID-19 test results to the school.

A school or day cares specific guidelines are consequential for working parents who must miss work if their child cant go to school or child care. In October 2023, as the nations parents and caretakers wrestled with simultaneous surges of COVID, respiratory syncytial virus and influenza, 104,000 adults reported missing work because of child care issues, the highest number in at least a decade. That number has fallen: Last month, child care problems meant 41,000 adults missed work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Melissa Colagrossos child care center in West Virginia dropped special guidelines for COVID about a year ago, she said. Now, theyre the same as other illnesses: A child must be free of severe symptoms such as fever for at least 24 hours before returning to the center.

We certainly are treating COVID just like we would treat flu or hand, foot and mouth disease, said Colagrosso, CEO of A Place To Grow Childrens Center in Oak Hill.

As for kids without symptoms who test positive for COVID? Most parents have stopped testing kids unless they have symptoms, Colagrasso said, so its a quandary she has not encountered.

___

The Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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The CDC has relaxed COVID guidelines. Will schools and day cares follow suit? - The Morning Call

The Hawaii Department of Health is in general agreement with todays updated COVID-19 guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

DOH continuously reviews data on respiratory pathogens, including the virus that causes COVID-19.

When people get sick with a respiratory virus, the updated guidance recommends that they stay home and away from others. For people with COVID-19 and influenza, treatment is available and can lessen symptoms and lower the risk of severe illness. The recommendations suggest returning to normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, symptoms are improving overall, and if a fever was present, it has been gone without use of a fever-reducing medication.

Once people resume normal activities, they are encouraged to take additional prevention strategies for the next 5 days to curb disease spread, such as taking more steps for cleaner air, enhancing hygiene practices, wearing a well-fitting mask, keeping a distance from others, and/or getting tested for respiratory viruses.

CDCs updated guidance reflects how the circumstances around COVID-19 in particular have changed. While it remains a threat, today it is far less likely to cause severe illness because of widespread immunity and improved tools to prevent and treat the disease. Importantly, states and countries that have already adjusted recommended isolation times have not seen increased hospitalizations or deaths related to COVID-19.

The trend in Hawaii is similar to that nationally, in which significant declines in COVID-19 hospitalizations and mortality have been associated with the high degree of population immunity, availability of vaccinations, and access to treatment. As the threat from COVID-19 more closely resembles other common respiratory viruses, CDC is issuing Respiratory Virus Guidance, rather than additional virus-specific guidance.

The new pan-respiratory guidance makes it easier for people to take actions to prevent disease spread, even if they are unable to identify the specific respiratory disease.

DOH will be reviewing CDCs guidance over the coming week as the department prepares updates to state-level guidance to align with these changes.

To read more about the CDCs changes, visit Protect yourself from COVID-19, Flu, and RSV.

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Hawaii Department of Health supports CDC updates to COVID-19 guidance - Big Island Now