As the war against COVID-19 continues to wage, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have once again changed a rule for the virus—and this time around, it is a rather big one.
A while back, the CDC went so far as to launch an additional section to their website, and it is devoted entirely to the COVID-19 pandemic, and they have been updating it regularly with their guidelines on the virus.
These newly added suggestions are representative of recent both research and developments in the ongoing war on COVID-19.
On Friday, the newest guideline to be added to their site was majorly targeted at those individuals who are choosing the fight their battle again coronavirus at home. The CDC is changing its current guidelines as to how long individuals should now remain in self-quarantine after having become infected.
For those with symptoms, the CDC offers two different approaches—one that is based entirely on a time perspective, the other on having been tested.
Symptoms Present
It is now suggested that if you have tested positive for COVID-19, you are to isolate for ten days after your first symptoms appeared. This is predicated on 24 hours having passed without presenting with a fever, and without the aid of fever-reducing mediations. There is also to be a marked improvement in other key symptoms such as coughing and shortness of breath.
Finally, if tests taken more than 24 hours apart have shown as negative, you are permitted to leave your house.
No Symptoms Present
If you do not present with symptoms but have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, the CDC suggests two options—again, one that is based entirely on a time perspective, and the other on a strategy that is test-based.
If, after ten days of testing positive, and you have not developed symptoms, you may then discontinue self-isolation. However, the CDC does caution that: "Because symptoms cannot be used to gauge where these individuals are in the course of their illness, duration of viral shedding could be longer or shorter than ten days after their first positive test."
If, on the other hand, symptoms do present, then a symptom-based or test-based strategy must then be put into place. Also, if you find you are asymptomatic but have tested positive, you are permitted to leave self-isolation when two test results within 24 hours come back negative.
Will these new guidelines help to flatten the coronavirus curve overall?