On Thursday, the Centers For Disease Control relaxed its COVID-19 guidelines, dropping the recommendation that Americans quarantine themselves if they come into close contact with an infected person.
The nation’s top health agency also added in its fresh guidelines that people no longer need to stay at least 6 feet away from others, and that schools will no longer require routine daily testing.
Source: Politico (John Bazemore/AP Photo)(AP)
The CDC also dropped a “test-to-stay” recommendation, which said students exposed to COVID-19 could regularly test — instead of quarantining at home — to keep attending school.
The new set of relaxed guidelines stems from the fact that more than 2 1/2 years since the start of the pandemic, an estimated 95% of Americans 16 and older have now acquired some level of immunity, either from being vaccinated or infected, agency officials said.
“The current conditions of this pandemic are very different from those of the last two years,” said the CDC’s Greta Massetti, an author of the guidelines.
This being said, masks continue to be recommended only in areas where community transmission is deemed high, or if a person is considered at high risk of severe illness.
Although the agency says quarantining at home is not necessary when you come in contact with an infected person, it urges those people to wear a high-quality mask for 10 days and get tested after five.
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