The CDC just announced that because the CIVCO-19 is less dangerous, some public health precautions the agency recommended are no longer necessary.
Some of the CDC recommendations, such as social distancing, quarantining, and testing children for COVID-19 during their school days – commonly known as the test-to-stay strategy – may not be necessary anymore for most Americans. High levels of immunity from vaccinations and prior infections, along with effective treatments and tools to prevent COVID-19 spread, prompted the agency to take action.
But officials from the C.D.C. are also encouraging those who know they have a high risk for contracting COVID-19 to continue to use a multi-layer approach to avoid it. Improved ventilation, well-fitting masks, and timely testing are some of the strategies widely used.
The CDC’s new guidelines were released today in their Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
According to the new recommendations, the following needs to be done:
- Reduce your risk of suffering severe COVID-19 symptoms.
- Monitoring community COVID levels can help guide prevention efforts.
- Improve the access to vaccines and drugs for immunocompromised people.
- Provide reliable information so people at higher risk know their status.
- If someone doesn’t have symptoms, make sure they get tested and isolate for 5 days or longer if they are infected.
“COVID-19 remains an ongoing public health threat,” said members of the CDC COVID-19 Emergency Response Team in the new recommendations.
“The availability of medical and nonpharmaceutical interventions have, however, substantially reduced the risk for death, hospitalization, and medically significant illness from COVID-19.”
