The United States has halved the recommended isolation time for people with asymptomatic Covid infections from 10 to 5 days.
The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) said that this must be followed by five days of wearing a mask around other.
While the new recommendations are not mandatory, they are closely followed by many businesses and policymakers across the US.
It comes as a surge in Covid cases causes travel chaos across the country.
President Joe Biden has pledged to deal with a shortage of tests as Omicron threatens to overwhelm hospitals. The CDC said the change is “motivated by science” demonstrating that most transmission happens early in the course of illness.
The centre has also updated recommendations for people exposed to Covid who are either unvaccinated or yet to get a booster jab.
For these groups, the CDC said it “now recommends quarantine for five days followed by strict mask use for an additional five days” after exposure. People who have received their booster shot do not need to quarantine following exposure but are expected to wear a mask for 10 days after the exposure, said the CDC.
Leave a Reply