US health agency CDC to drop five-day COVID-19 isolation guidelines: Report

The US CDC plans to drop its five-day COVID-19 isolation rec-ommendations under new guidance planned by the agency, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

The health agency plans to recommend people who test positive for COVID-19 to take a call on when to end isolation based on their symptoms.

People with mild and improving symptoms would no longer need to stay home if they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours, the report said citing CDC officials familiar with the matter, adding the new recommendations would not apply to hospitals and other healthcare settings with more vulnerable populations.

The CDC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The government has yet to sign off on the guidelines the agency is expected to release in April for public feedback, the report added.

The guidelines for isolation when tested positive for COVID-19 has not been updated since December 2021, when CDC had shortened the recommended isolation time for Americans with asymptomatic cases to five days from the previous guidance of 10 days.

CDC data showed nearly 86 percent of COVID-19 cases in the United States, as of January 19, were caused by the sub-variant JN.1, classified as a “variant of interest” by the World Health Organization.