The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has revised its guidelines for people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus. Now, instead of the standard 14-day quarantine it has been recommending, the CDC says that potential exposure warrants a quarantine of 10 or seven days, depending on one’s test results and symptoms.
If individuals do not develop symptoms, they need only quarantine for 10 days; if they test negative, that period can be reduced to just one week.
The revision marks a significant change from the CDC’s recommendations since the start of the pandemic earlier this year. While the agency says a 14-day quarantine remains the safest option, it acknowledged this length placed difficult demands on people, including economic hardship.
During a telephone briefing with reporters Wednesday, Dr. Henry Walke, the CDC’s incident manager, said that people should still watch closely for symptoms — such as fever, a cough or a loss of taste or smell — for a full 14 days after exposure.
For the upcoming holiday season, the CDC is recommending people stay home — just as it did before the Thanksgiving holiday.
But if people do travel, the guidelines are that individuals should get a coronavirus test one to three days before travel and then three to five days after travel, combined with quarantine for seven days after arriving.
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