Category: Covid-19

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that it would wind down much of its remaining guidance specifically targeted at COVID-19, including an official end to a pandemic-era plea for Americans to stay home for five daysafter testing positive.

The agency cited improvements in the rates of hospitalizations and deaths inflicted by the virus this past season for the change in its recommendations.

"COVID-19 remains an important public health threat, but it is no longer the emergency that it once was, and its health impacts increasingly resemble those of other respiratory viral illnesses," the agency said Friday in a report justifying its decision.

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Instead of offering recommendations specific to COVID-19, the agency said it would switch to offering a "unified, practical approach to addressing risk" from the virus alongside influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

"We're taking this unified approach so things can be simpler and more likely to be followed. And if they're easier and more likely to be followed, then we're protecting everyone, right? So the folks who are more vulnerable were top of mind when we did this," CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen told CBS News.

The decision follows a months-long effort started last year to draw up a new "pan-respiratory" approach blending together federal recommendations for COVID-19, flu and RSV. Cohen blamed the emergence of the highly mutated variant BA.2.86 last summer and fall, and the fast-spreading descendant it spawned, JN.1, for delaying the rollout of the new guidance.

"We wanted to see if the trends would hold through another respiratory season. We wanted to see continued decreases in hospitalizations, decreases in deaths, even with that larger change in the virus," Cohen said.

The changes include new guidance for when to stay home when sick, when people should test for COVID-19 and when to put on masks.

Here's the latest about the CDC's new recommendations.

Similar to influenza, where antiviral treatments are available for those who test positive and are more likely to face severe disease, the CDC's new guidance says everyone who is at higher risk should seek outtestingwhen they develop symptoms.

"If you are feeling sick, it is still important to know what you have, because you could get access to treatment. We have treatment for flu and COVID, and treatment can also save someone's life and reduce the risk of long COVID," said Cohen.

For people without additional risk factors, the agency says testing can be an "additional prevention" strategy to choose. Cohen said the agency would also continue to say testing was an option to be "proactive to protect those around you," like before visiting others who might be more vulnerable.

"If it's positive, we see very few false positives, we know that you have COVID. But it is still possible to have a false negative. So it can be reassuring, but it is not a guarantee that you don't have COVID if you see a negative," said Cohen.

A recent CDC survey found that less than half of people would do an at-home COVID-19 test if they had cough or cold symptoms.

It also acknowledged that mild cases are now often not detected by home tests until past the peak of infectiousness, given the risk of false negative results soon after an infection.

"Even when testing occurs, COVID-19 is often not identified early in illness. The overall sensitivity of COVID-19 antigen tests is relatively low and even lower in individuals with only mild symptoms," the CDC said in its report.

The agency's new guidance also moves away from an earlier recommendationon using test results to decide when to stop isolation after an infection.

"While COVID-19 at-home testing can give a rough approximation of whether a person is still infectious, at-home testing for other respiratory viruses is not widely available. CDC guidance throughout the pandemic recognized that repeated testing through the course of illness is not practical for many people," the agency says.

For people who are sick with COVID-19 or another respiratory virus, the CDC will suggest masking as part of five additional days of ramped-up precautions after they are no longer staying home, alongside distancing and improved ventilation.

The agency had previously suggested wearing a mask for up to 10 days after stopping isolation when indoors near other people.

Much of the data the CDC had tracked on COVID-19 alongside other trends, like influenza and RSV, will also continue to be published. But specific benchmarks, which had guided county-by-county recommendations on when people should wear masks to avoid getting sick, are now being discarded.

"This guidance is not going to tie to any specific colors or anything like that. We're trying to give folks broad tools that they can use to protect themselves, and then give them information about what's happening in their community," said Cohen.

Cohen stressed that guidance for health care facilities, like long-term care nursing homes, would not be changing at this time.

It is unclear how benchmarks will be updated for these settings. This past season, some hospitals and other more vulnerable settings had relied on the weekly map to make decisions on when to require masks and take other precautions.

A pandemic-era plea for Americans to isolate at home for five days after testing positive for COVID-19 is also being ended.

Instead, the CDC will urge people sick with symptoms of respiratory viruses to stay home until their fever has disappeared for at least 24 hours without relying on fever-lowering medications and their symptoms are improving.

The agency cited states that have already adopted these kinds of recommendations, like Oregon and California, as well as other countries abroad. Experts have questioned how often the five-day recommendations were followed, given hurdles like the lack of paid sick leave.

"Importantly, states and countries that have already shortened recommended isolation times have not seen increased hospitalizations or deaths related to COVID-19," the agency said.

Over the following five days, the CDC suggests people take additional precautions like distancing, improving ventilation and wearing masks especially around vulnerable people.

"Keep in mind that you may still be able to spread the virus that made you sick, even if you are feeling better. You are likely to be less contagious at this time, depending on factors like how long you were sick or how sick you were," the guidance says.

Alexander Tin is a digital reporter for CBS News based in the Washington, D.C. bureau. He covers the Biden administration's public health agencies, including the federal response to infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19.

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CDC shortens 5-day COVID isolation, updates guidance on masks and testing in new 2024 recommendations - CBS News

Saturday 2 March 2024 16:32, UK

Lockdowns imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic saw changes in newborn babies that may have protected them against allergies, according to a study.

Infants raised when coronavirus social distancing restrictions were in place were found by Irish researchers to have more of the beneficial microbes acquired after birth from their mother, which could act as a defence against disease.

The scientists believe this led "pandemic babies" to have lower than expected rates of allergic conditions, such as to food, compared to pre-COVID babies.

The findings, published in the journal Allergy, highlighted the gut health benefits for the youngsters as a result of the COVID-19 lockdowns, including lower rates of infection and consequent antibiotic use, and increased duration of breastfeeding.

The ecosystem of naturally-occurring bacteria in the gut, known as the microbiome, plays an essential role in human health.

The researchers analysed faecal samples from 351 babies born in the first three months of the pandemic, comparing these with a pre-pandemic group.

Online questionnaires were used to collect information on diet, home environment and health.

Stool samples were collected at six, 12 and 24 months and allergy testing was performed at 12 and 24 months.

The study highlighted significant differences in the microbiome development of babies born during lockdown periods when compared to pre-pandemic babies.

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It revealed only about 5% of the lockdown babies had developed a food allergy at age one, compared to 22.8% in the pre-COVID group.

Fewer infections through not being exposed to germs also reduced the need for antibiotics, which kill good bacteria.

Of the lockdown babies only 17% needed an antibiotic by the age of one.

In the pre-pandemic group, 80% of infants had taken antibiotics by 12 months.

Read more on Sky News: Data shows how pop music has changed over the Brit years Musk sues OpenAI for 'perverting' the company's mission

Professor Jonathan Hourihane, consultant paediatrician at Children's Health Ireland Temple Street and joint senior author of the research, said: "This study offers a new perspective on the impact of social isolation in early life on the gut microbiome.

"Notably, the lower allergy rates among newborns during the lockdown could highlight the impact of lifestyle and environmental factors, such as frequent antibiotic use, on the rise of allergic diseases.

"We hope to re-examine these children when they are five years old to see if there are longer-term impacts of these interesting changes in early gut microbiome."

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Fellow joint senior author Liam O'Mahony, professor of immunology at University College Cork, said: "While we all start life sterile, communities of beneficial microbes that inhabit our gut develop over the first years of life.

"We took the opportunity to study microbiome development in infants raised during the early COVID-19 era when strict social distancing restrictions were in place, as the complexity of early life exposures was reduced and this facilitated a more accurate identification of the key early life exposures.

"Prior to this study it has been difficult to fully determine the relative contribution of these multiple environmental exposures and dietary factors on early-life microbiome development."

He added: "One fascinating outcome is that due to reduced human exposures and protection from infection, only 17% of infants required an antibiotic by one year of age, which correlated with higher levels of beneficial bacteria such as bifidobacteria.

"The study has provided a rich repository of data, which we will continue to analyse and investigate in the future."

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COVID-19 'pandemic babies' developed 'fascinating' protection against common condition, study finds - Sky News

NEW YORK (AP) Americans who test positive for COVID-19 no longer need to stay in isolation for five days, U.S. health officials announced Friday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its longstanding guidance, saying that people can return to work or regular activities if their symptoms are mild and improving and its been a day since theyve had a fever.

The change comes at a time when COVID-19 is no longer the public health menace it once was. It dropped from being the nations 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 recommendation 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.

WHY ARE THE GUIDELINES CHANGING?

COVID-19 is not causing as many hospitalizations and deaths as it did in the first years of the pandemic. The change is an effort to streamline recommendations so they are similar to longstanding recommendations for flu and other respiratory viruses. Many people with a runny nose, cough or other symptoms arent testing to distinguish whether its COVID-19, flu, or something else, officials say.

This may not be as stringent, but also emphasizes that all people with respiratory symptoms should stay home while they are sick, said Dr. David Margolius, the head of Clevelands health department.

Theres been no recent change in the science of how long people with COVID-19 are likely contagious, said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown Universitys School of Public Health.

What has changed is how much COVID is harming us as a population, Nuzzo said.

WHAT ARE THE NEW GUIDELINES?

If you have symptoms, stay home until your symptoms are mild and improving and its been a day since youve 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.

IS THERE OPPOSITION TO THIS CHANGE?

Yes, and even some who understand the rationale for the change have concerns.

My biggest worry in all of this is that employers will take this change in guidance to require employees to come back to work before they are ready to, before they feel well enough, and before they are not likely to pose harm to their co-workers, Nuzzo said.

IS THIS THE FIRST CHANGE FOR COVID-19 ISOLATION GUIDELINES?

No. The CDC originally advised 10 days of isolation, but in late 2021 cut it to five days for Americans who catch the coronavirus and have no symptoms or only brief illnesses. 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.

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U.S. health officials announce major change to COVID-19 guidance - East Idaho News

The origin of the coronavirus pandemic has been a divisive topic ever since the first cases emerged in Wuhan at the end of 2019. Vicious arguments erupted between warring factions of scientists, often closing off constructive debate.

Conversation about the possibility of a lab leak was largely shut down in the midst of lockdown after a group of scientists wrote in the Lancet that they strongly condemned conspiracy theories.

Ongoing investigations, including from a US Congressional Inquiry, have found cause for concern around the biosecurity of the WIV, which was known to be storing and working on coronaviruses before the pandemic.

Prof James Wood, head of the department of veterinary medicine at the University of Cambridge, said although the survey sample size was small it usefully distinguished between the two lab-leak scenarios.

There has been a lot of confusion or conflation between the lab-leak hypothesis and whether this was an artificially constructed virus. This survey pulls these separate questions apart, he said.

Dr Simon Clarke, associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, added: It always seemed entirely plausible to me that Covid escaped from a laboratory, but that doesnt mean that it was deliberate or the result of nefarious activity.

Labs like the one in Wuhan routinely collect and store samples of the pathogens they are studying, so Covid could have been collected from a wild animal, taken to the lab for study, but accidentally released because of a lapse in biosecurity.

However, Professor Ravindra Gupta, an expert in clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge, said the prevailing belief is that the SARS-CoV-2 virus emerged naturally.

The lay of the land among scientists is people saying it is most likely of natural origin through the market; there were a lot of animals there and there was evidence of the SARS virus, so most likely that is what happened.

But we cannot ignore that laboratory work was going on at unsafe containment levels in Wuhan. It is possible it leaked from a Chinese lab and it should be taken seriously.

Scientists also slammed China for its role in the pandemic, with two thirds agreeing that China has not been open and transparent about the origins of Covid-19.

Prof Wood said the slow release of information from China has likely increased uncertainty over Covids origins.

Coupled with the fact that retrospective investigations of outbreaks can often fail to identify specific epidemic sources, even when there is complete official openness, it is not clear that further investigations now will ever be able to identify a source, he added.

Prof Clarke agreed, saying: Weve probably missed the opportunity to investigate whether thats what actually happened.

Prof Lawrence Gostin, distinguished university professor at Georgetown University in the US, and director of the ONeill Institute, a WHO-collaborating centre on global health law, said China had behaved badly throughout the pandemic.

It has not been a good global citizen and may be partially responsible for the failure of an early response to help contain the virus, Prof Gostin said.

China was late in reporting the outbreak to WHO, conveyed misleading information to the WHO suggesting there was limited human-to-human transmission, and blocked any attempt at an independent scientific investigation of Covid origins.

Because of China, the world may never know the full truth. After all the world has suffered from Covid-19, Chinas actions have been reprehensible.

Scientists were also quizzed on the usefulness and risks of gain-of-function lab experiments, which take a virus and give it enhanced abilities, sometimes relating to mortality and transmissibility.

One third of those questioned (34 per cent) thought these experiments were needed to prevent future pandemics, but the same proportion said they risk sparking future pandemics.

They are only justifiable if they have important and immediate public health benefits, Prof Gupta said, adding they need to be very tightly regulated.

I think the survey shows that people believe in the ability of science to answer questions, but some of those experiments carry a risk.

Prof Gupta, who is also co-chairman of the Independent Task Force on Research with Pandemic Risks, recently presented a report to the UN, which stated Covid could have been caused by a research-related incident.

This survey is an independent validation of what we have just put out, he told The Telegraph.

Scientists are saying, in an anonymous fashion, that they agree with what the reports findings are. There are risks associated with doing this work, but also this sort of work is essential to be able to save lives in the future.

However, Richard Ebright, professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Americas Rutgers University, disagrees, and thinks gain-of-function research has zero civilian applications.

He said: It provides no information useful for preventing pandemics and no information useful for responding to pandemics. It is not required for, and does not contribute to, the development of any vaccine or therapeutic agent.

Virologists at the WIV have previously dismissed claims of a lab leak.

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Majority of scientists think Beijing not open about Covid's origins - The Telegraph

This edition of The Checkup With Dr. Wen was sent on Thursday, before the CDC updated its isolation guidance for covid. This online version has been updated. Click here to get the full newsletter in your inbox.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Friday that it will relax its five-day isolation guidance for people with covid-19. The new policy says people can end their isolation 24 hours after theyre fever-free, though it urged these people to continue wearing masks in public for five days.

The change, which has been expected for weeks, is likely to make many people nervous. For these folks, I recommend taking a look at California, where a similar policy has already been in place since January. Health officials there make a strong case for why this change is necessary.

To understand how health officials came to this decision, I spoke with Erica Pan, Californias state epidemiologist.

Pan, who is also a pediatric infectious-disease specialist, emphasized that the coronavirus continues to cause severe disease among vulnerable individuals. But the viruss population-level impact is far below its pandemic peak because of immunity from vaccination and previous infections, as well as effective antiviral treatments.

If you look at this season compared to last season and prior seasons, our hospitalizations and deaths are much lower, Pan said. Top-down requirements such as mask mandates and mandatory isolation were needed when population immunity was low and the virus was straining health-care systems. But now, she explained, we are really recognizing the disruptive impact of some of these policies, specifically in schools and workplaces.

Another key factor in Californias decision-making was the fact that coronavirus infections can be mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic, and many people are no longer testing every time they have a runny nose. We really wanted to remind people that there are multiple respiratory viruses circulating, she said. This is why they switched to a symptom-based approach: People should stay home if they have a fever and respiratory symptoms, no matter what virus they have.

Pan points to other countries that have made similar changes. Denmark no longer considers covid to have special status over other illnesses and does not require isolation after a positive test. Norway and Britain advise people to stay home if ill, but there is no set isolation period; in fact, these countries recommend testing only for symptomatic people who qualify for treatment. Even Australia, which had some of the strictest mitigation measures during the pandemic, ended mandatory isolation more than a year ago in favor of asking symptomatic people to mask and avoid settings with high-risk individuals.

I also learned that California had practical reasons for not waiting on the CDC to change its guidelines. In many states, public health recommendations are just that suggestions that workplaces and individuals can choose to follow or not. But in California, public health policy is tied to workplace regulations. This is also true for Oregon, where health officials likewise overrode the CDCs five-day isolation period.

Opponents of the guidance change often invoke equity, because people at risk of severe illness would suffer the most if virus transmission increased. (I have written about how the CDC can mitigate this risk.) But there is an equity argument in favor of relaxing isolation requirements, too.

As Pan explains, isolation requirements favor people who have desk jobs and can keep working from home without losing wages. This is not the case for those who must work in person, a disproportionate proportion of whom are minorities and workers who make less money. Well-meaning public guidance should not impose additional burdens on essential workers and exacerbate economic hardships.

In no way does the change in isolation policy mean that state health officials are minimizing covid, as some advocates have suggested. Pan emphasized the many efforts her team is making to encourage people to remain up to date with the vaccines, improve ventilation and increase access to treatment. She agrees with me that people should tailor the tools available to them based on their individual risks and the risks of those around them.

For instance, before going to dinner with her elderly parents, she will test herself and her kids. And vulnerable people such as her parents should use well-fitting N95 or equivalent masks in public settings.

At the end of the day, its all about balancing priorities, Pan said. Policymakers and the public must recognize that the interventions that were appropriate earlier in the pandemic might no longer be. The emphasis has shifted from preventing infection to reducing severe outcomes while lessening disruptions to work, school and social activities.

The balance is difficult to get right, and there will always be naysayers. But as Pan and her colleagues illustrated well through their thoughtful decision-making, this is the work of public health. The governments guidance must always be guided by science, but there is rarely a straight line from science to policy. Health officials must do better to communicate complexity and the challenge of determining which priorities take precedence and why.

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Opinion | California's case for relaxing covid isolation guidance - The Washington Post - The Washington Post

Infectious diseases

Change in guidelines comes as Covid dropped from third leading cause of death at start of pandemic to 10th last year

Associated Press

Americans who test positive for Covid-19 no longer need to stay in isolation for five days, US health officials announced on Friday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changed its longstanding guidance, saying that people can return to work or regular activities if their symptoms are mild and improving and it has been a day since they have had a fever.

The change comes at a time when Covid-19 is no longer the public health menace it once was. It dropped from being the nations 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.

Covid-19 is not causing as many hospitalizations and deaths as it did in the first years of the pandemic. The change is an effort to streamline recommendations so they are similar to longstanding recommendations for flu and other respiratory viruses. Many people with a runny nose, cough or other symptoms are not testing to distinguish whether it is Covid-19, flu or something else, officials say.

This guidance may not be as stringent as it once was, but it also emphasizes that all people with respiratory symptoms should stay home while they are sick, said Dr David Margolius, the head of Clevelands health department.

There has been no recent change in the science of how long people with Covid-19 are likely to be contagious, said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown Universitys School of Public Health.

What has changed is how much Covid is harming us as a population, Nuzzo said.

The advice is now for people with symptoms to stay home until they are mild and improving and it has been a day since having had a fever.

There is no change to guidelines for nursing homes and healthcare 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 fresh outdoor air.

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US health officials say people with Covid now need not isolate for five days - The Guardian

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Analyzing the Outcomes of COVID-19 Infection on Patients With Comorbidities: Insights From Hospital-Based Study - Cureus

Americans who test positive for the coronavirus no longer need to routinely stay home from work and school for five days under new guidance released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The agency is loosening its covid isolation recommendations for the first time since 2021 to reflect the changing landscape of covid-19 four years after the virus emerged. The CDC laid out its justification for the guidance change in a 25-page document that describes the evolving risk environment. Although coronavirus infections are continuing at levels similar to those in years past, new infections are now causing less severe illness and far fewer hospitalizations or deaths, CDC data shows.

The change, as reported by The Washington Post last month, is effective immediately, CDC officials said. The agency said it is streamlining its guidance for respiratory viral illnesses, and the new recommendations bring covid-19 in line with how other common viruses, such as influenza and RSV, are managed.

Our goal here is 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, CDC Director Mandy Cohen said during a media briefing Friday. The change, she added, reflects the progress weve made in protecting against severe illness from covid.

The basic advice is the same: Stay home and away from others when youre sick. Under the new approach, people who test positive for the coronavirus no longer need to isolate at home if they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the aid of medication and their overall symptoms are improving.

Once people resume normal activities, the updated guidance encourages them to take additional preventive steps for the next five days to curb disease spread. These include improving ventilation by opening windows to bring in fresh outside air or purifying indoor air, washing hands often and cleaning frequently touched surfaces, wearing a well-fitting mask, keeping a distance from others, and continuing to test ahead of any gatherings, CDC officials said.

Testing as soon as you have symptoms can help you take precautions early, and if you test positive, seeking treatment, avoiding contact with people at a higher risk of getting seriously ill, namely those 65 and older, and masking for five days after you feel better will all help reduce transmission and will protect others from covid-19, said Ashwin Vasan, the top public health official for New York City, which plans to update its isolation guidance to align with the CDCs.

Not all respiratory infections result in fever, so paying attention to other symptoms, such as cough and muscle aches, is important as someone determines when they are well enough to leave home, according to the CDC.

Giving people symptom-based guidance is a better way to prioritize those most at risk and balance the potential for disruptive impacts on schools and workplaces, health officials and experts have said. The federal recommendations follow similar moves by Oregon and California. California shortened its five-day isolation recommendation in January; Oregon made a similar move last May.

Other countries have implemented similar guidance, including Britain, Australia, France and Canada, and found no significant change in spread or severe disease, according to a CDC blog post on the respiratory guidance.

Many experts have said that the changes are long overdue and that public health guidance needs to shift to a more practical approach. The covid-19 reality is far different now than early in the pandemic, when the population had no protection against a novel pathogen. By the end of last year, 98 percent of people in the United States had disease-fighting antibodies from vaccination, prior infection or both, which confers the strongest immunity.

There are still about 20,000 people a week hospitalized for covid-19 and about 2,000 deaths a week caused by the disease, according to the CDC.

The updated recommendations are for the general population and community settings; there are no changes to respiratory virus guidance for health-care settings, such as hospitals, with more vulnerable populations. The respiratory virus guidance covers most common respiratory viral illnesses but does not replace specific guidance for pathogens such as measles, an extremely contagious disease that requires much stricter isolation and quarantine measures.

The CDC is also developing new infection prevention and control guidance for schools on a number of pathogens, including norovirus and flu. The agency will align that effort with the updated respiratory virus guidance released Friday and will include considerations for children with special health-care needs, according to an agency FAQ posted Friday. The CDC said it plans to release the new school infection guidance before the 2024-2025 school year.

Advocates for people with disabilities and others who face higher risk of severe covid condemned the CDCs shift, which they say endangers them by abandoning attempts to control transmission.

Our community has been really left behind and disposable for the past four years, and this is yet another reminder of that, said Maria Town, president of the American Association of People with Disabilities. Grouping all three of these viruses together fails to recognize how much more contagious covid is, how it behaves differently and puts many people, especially disabled people and immunocompromised people, at risk.

CDC officials said protecting vulnerable people was a top priority while revising the guidance, and they believe that the new approach will help if it means more people stay home while sick with any virus instead of depending on coronavirus tests.

Work on revising the isolation guidance has been underway since August but was paused in the fall as covid cases rose. Agency officials have said they recognized the need to give the public more practical guidelines for covid-19, acknowledging that few people are following isolation guidance that hasnt been updated since December 2021. Different guidance for different viruses also makes it difficult to know what to do when someone doesnt know what is causing their symptoms, officials said.

While every respiratory virus does not act the same, having a common approach to limiting disease spread makes recommendations easier to follow and more likely to be adopted and does not rely on people to test for illness, CDC officials said. Estimates suggest that only about 50 percent of individuals are testing for covid-19, said Demetre Daskalakis, who heads the CDCs National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

David Margolius, Clevelands top public health official, applauded the updated guidance, adding that hospitalizations from RSV and influenza have exceeded those from covid-19 in his community.

Simplifying the public health messaging to treat all of these dangerous contagious respiratory viruses the same makes a lot of sense, Margolius said. We really want the takeaway to be: When youre sick, stay home until you feel better.

He said hed continue to urge employers to not force sick employees to come into work. Revised guidance emphasizing being fever-free could help, he said, because some employers have made sick employees come to work if they tested negative for covid. As a result, people with other contagious viruses or who received false negatives would still expose others in the workplace, Margolius said.

Many businesses have already stopped offering workers with covid infections five paid days to isolate, and they celebrated state officials who moved away from the CDC guidance, arguing that it was overly burdensome to keep workers with mild or no symptoms off the job for so long.

Cohen acknowledged that organizations need to consider policies that would allow employees to stay home when sick, such as working from home or paid sick leave. She said federal health officials expect that there will be updated vaccines for flu and covid-19 this fall. As part of a common approach to respiratory viruses, wed like to see employers hold flu and covid clinics, she said.

Nearly 1.2 million people have died of covid-19 as of Feb. 10. The virus was the third leading cause of death in 2021, accounting for 12 percent of all deaths. In 2022, it was the fourth leading cause of death, after heart disease, cancer and unintentional injury. Preliminary data from 2023 shows covid-19 as the 10th leading cause of death, according to the CDC.

CDC officials also said more people need to get vaccinated with the latest version of the vaccine, made available last fall. Uptake of the updated vaccine among adults has been low only about 22 percent of those 18 and older have received a dose. And only about 42 percent of those 65 and older have gotten one. Among those hospitalized with covid-19 this past season, Cohen said, more than 95 percent had not received an updated coronavirus vaccine.

Most covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations last year were among people 65 years and older. The CDC this week recommended an additional vaccine dose for older adults because it can provide added protection to immunity that may have waned over time.

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CDC officially drops five-day covid isolation guidelines - The Washington Post

(BIVN) The Hawaii Department of Health on Friday said it is in general agreement with the latest COVID-19 guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

One of the latest recommendations from the CDC drops the 5 day isolation period for individual COVID-19 cases. Those who may have a respiratory virus can go back to normal activities if symptoms are getting better overall, and there has been no fever, for at least 24 hours.

According to the Hawaii DOH:

The new guidelines reflect the current level of risk, while still protecting the most vulnerable. The advisement eases some restrictions and more closely aligns COVID-19 with the broader category of respiratory viruses, which include influenza and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus).

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. CDC offers separate, specific guidance which has not changed for health care settings (COVID-19, flu, and general infection prevention and control).

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Hawaii Health Officials Support New CDC Guidelines On COVID-19 - Big Island Video News

BOSTON (AP) 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 you've 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, with COVID deaths and hospitalizations dropping, the CDC says children can go back to school when their overall symptoms improve and they're 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 district's decisions.

The result can be a confusing array of policies among states and districts, not to mention workplaces confounding parents whose lives have long been upended by the virus.

"This is so confusing," said Gloria Cunningham, a single mom in the Boston area. "I just don't know what I should think of COVID now. Is it still a monster?"

Cunningham, who manages a local store for a national restaurant chain, said her company requires her to take off 10 days if she gets COVID-19. And the school system where her son is in second grade has still been sending home COVID test kits for kids to use before returning to school after long breaks.

"I feel like we should just do away with anything that treats COVID differently or keep all of the precautions," she said.

The public education system has long held varying policies on COVID. 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 Diego's school systems, among others, have adopted that policy.

But the majority of big-city 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.

Some school leaders suggest the CDC's previous five-day isolation requirement was already only loosely followed.

Official policy in Burlington, Massachusetts, has been to have students stay home for five days if they test positive. But Superintendent Eric Conti said the real policy, in effect, is: "It's a virus. Deal with it."

That's because COVID is managed at home, using the honor system.

"Without school-based testing, no one can enforce a five-day COVID policy," he said via text message.

Ridley School District in the Philadelphia suburbs was already using a policy similar to the new CDC guidelines, said Superintendent Lee Ann Wentzel. Students who test positive for COVID must be fever-free without medication for at least 24 hours before returning to school. When they come back, they must mask for five days. Wentzel said the district is now considering dropping the masking requirement because of the new CDC guidance.

A school or day care's specific guidelines are consequential for working parents who must miss work if their child can't go to school or child care. In October 2023, during 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 Colagrosso's child care center in West Virginia dropped special guidelines for COVID about a year ago, she said. Now, they're 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 Children's 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 it's a quandary she has not encountered.

Still, some parents worry the relaxed rules put their communities at greater risk. Evelyn Alemn leads a group of Latino and Indigenous immigrant parents in Los Angeles County. The parents she represents, many of whom suffer from chronic illnesses and lack of access to health care, panicked when California did away with isolation requirements in January.

"I don't think they're considering what the impact will be for our families," she said of California officials. "It feels like they don't care that we're almost expendable."

Other impacts of the pandemic linger, too, even as restrictions are lifted. In Ridley, the Philadelphia-area district, more students are reclusive and struggle to interact in-person with peers, said Wentzel, the superintendent. Interest in school dances has plummeted.

"Emotionally," Wentzel said, "they're having trouble."

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Balingit reported from Washington.

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The Associated Press' education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's 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? - 1150AM/101.7FM WDEL