CDC Director Explains New COVID-19 Guidance As US Heads Into Harrowing Phase Of Pandemic

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MIAMI (CBSMiami/CNN) — Sweeping caller Covid-19 isolation and quarantine guidelines were spurred by technological probe and what Americans would apt tolerate, the manager of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.

They travel arsenic doctors expect the vacation coronavirus surge, driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant, to get worse pursuing New Year’s Eve. The mean fig of regular US Covid-19 cases connected Tuesday reached 265,427 — a caller pandemic high, according to information from Johns Hopkins University.

In guidance issued this week, the CDC said:

• Anyone who tests affirmative for Covid-19, careless of vaccination status, tin halt isolating aft 5 days if they don’t person symptoms oregon if their “symptoms are resolving” — arsenic agelong arsenic they besides deterioration a disguise astir others for the adjacent 5 days. (Previously, the CDC recommended anyone with Covid-19 isolate for 10 days.)

• Recently afloat vaccinated oregon boosted radical who were exposed to idiosyncratic with Covid-19 don’t request to quarantine, arsenic agelong arsenic they don’t get symptoms. (But they should deterioration a disguise astir others for 10 days and effort to get tested 5 days aft exposure.)

• Unvaccinated radical and those who got shots immoderate clip agone and were exposed to idiosyncratic with Covid-19 request to quarantine for 5 days aft exposure. This covers radical who got their past dose of the Pfizer oregon Moderna vaccine much than six months agone and haven’t been boosted; oregon got conscionable 1 changeable of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine much than 2 months agone and haven’t been boosted. (Everyone successful this category, too, should effort to get tested 5 days aft vulnerability and deterioration a disguise astir others for the adjacent 5 days.)

Many person asked wherefore the CDC reduced isolation times for immoderate radical with Covid-19 — but didn’t urge taking a trial to corroborate whether they were inactive infected. PCR and antigen tests aren’t ever bully indicators of whether idiosyncratic is inactive contagious, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told quality outlets Wednesday.

“What we bash cognize is that the PCR trial aft corruption tin beryllium affirmative for up to 12 weeks, truthful that is not going to beryllium helpful. You’re not going to beryllium transmitting during each of that play of time,” Walensky told NBC.

“So past the question is, good wherefore not bash an antigen trial astatine 5 days? We bash cognize immoderate radical astatine 5 days volition beryllium antagonistic and inactive beryllium capable to transmit. We besides cognize that immoderate radical volition beryllium affirmative and inactive beryllium capable to transmit,” she said.

“So that antigen trial was really not authorized for this purpose, and its accusation volition not beryllium useful. Regardless of what the antigen trial said, we would accidental you inactive request to deterioration your disguise for 5 days.”

Why shorten isolation times?
New research, combined with immoderate people’s reluctance to isolate for 10 days if infected, spurred immoderate of the latest guidance, Walensky told CNN Wednesday.

“We cognize that the astir magnitude of transmission occurs successful those 1 to 2 days earlier you make symptoms (to) those 2 to 3 days aft you make symptoms,” she said.

“And if you representation that out, those 5 days relationship for determination betwixt 85% to 90% of each transmission that occurs.”

So for those who trial affirmative but person nary symptoms oregon dwindling symptoms astatine Day 5, “we shortened the clip to promote radical to bash the close thing,” Walensky told CBS connected Wednesday.

“We don’t privation them retired and astir erstwhile they are maximally infectious.”

Why indispensable wellness attraction workers trial retired of isolation but not others?
As immoderate hospitals get overwhelmed during the Omicron variant surge, the CDC issued exigency guidance for wellness attraction workers past week saying:

• Those with Covid-19 who are asymptomatic tin instrumentality to enactment aft 7 days with a antagonistic test. And that isolation clip tin beryllium chopped further if determination are staffing shortages.

• Health attraction workers who person received each recommended Covid-19 vaccine doses, including a booster, bash not request to quarantine astatine location pursuing high-risk exposures.

Asked wherefore infected wellness attraction workers should get tested earlier going backmost to enactment — but different infected Americans don’t person to — Walensky said corruption power recommendations successful wellness attraction settings are “always much stringent” than for the wide public.

The determination had thing to bash with shortages of accelerated antigen tests, she said.

“We wouldn’t alteration our guidance based connected the effect of that accelerated test,” Walensky told CNN. “And you cognize that it didn’t person thing to bash with immoderate shortage astatine each due to the fact that we urge accelerated tests for those successful quarantine.”

But CNN aesculapian expert Dr. Jonathan Reiner said the CDC’s mentation is confusing.

While PCR tests tin sometimes “detect the microorganism erstwhile a idiosyncratic is nary longer infectious,” antigen tests are much apt to crook up affirmative lone erstwhile a idiosyncratic is actively contagious, Reiner told CNN connected Wednesday.

“What I don’t recognize is wherefore a trial which has a very, precise debased mendacious positivity complaint … wherefore this would not beryllium a utile instrumentality not to for telling radical astatine Day 5 erstwhile they tin spell backmost to work,” Reiner said.

New Covid-19 grounds acceptable arsenic schools program to reopen
The nationwide coronavirus lawsuit spike comes conscionable arsenic millions of children are getting acceptable to spell backmost to schoolhouse adjacent week and arsenic pediatric Covid-19 hospitalizations person risen.

Pediatrician Dr. Peter Hotez said helium thinks immoderate schools successful areas of precise precocious transmission should hold a instrumentality to in-person learning.

“I wouldn’t bash it now,” Hotez said Tuesday night. “You person got a screaming level of transmission successful the Northeast, successful New York City and Washington, DC. Trying to unfastened schools astatine this point, it’s hard to ideate however things volition spell well.”

But the US Department of Education is urging schoolhouse districts to instrumentality information measures to guarantee classrooms stay unfastened for in-person learning successful the 2nd fractional of the schoolhouse year, according to a caller assets usher addressed to schoolhouse leaders and obtained Monday by CNN.

“It is incredibly important that each schools enactment to stay unfastened for in-person learning 5 days a week, particularly successful airy of the Omicron variant,” the usher said.

Despite a caller onslaught of Covid-19 cases successful New York City, the nation’s largest nationalist schoolhouse strategy volition reopen arsenic planned adjacent Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. The city’s nationalist schools volition springiness a week’s worthy of at-home tests to students who trial affirmative truthful they tin show their information and instrumentality arsenic soon arsenic it’s safe, helium said Tuesday.

Child hospitalizations creep toward pandemic peak
Across the country, an mean of 305 children were warring Covid-19 successful a infirmary connected immoderate fixed time during the week that ended Sunday, according to information from the CDC and the US Department of Health and Human Services.

That’s a much than 48% summation from the erstwhile week and 10.7% little than the highest mean of 342 children who were admitted to hospitals with the microorganism astatine the extremity of August and aboriginal September.

While everyone property 5 and older successful the US is eligible to get a vaccine, astir 40% of the full colonisation is not afloat vaccinated, putting them astatine a higher hazard for Covid-19’s astir terrible outcomes, including superior unwellness and death.

The fig of children who request aesculapian attraction astatine Children’s National Hospital successful Washington, DC, has astir doubled, said Dr. Roberta DeBiasi, part main of infectious diseases astatine the hospital.

The infirmary admitted astir 20 children astatine its peak, but that fig has jumped to betwixt 40 and 50 during the Omicron surge, DeBiasi said. Most of the patients are unvaccinated, partially vaccinated oregon immunocompromised, she said.

“So that is truly the large difference, and it’s not due to the fact that the microorganism is much severe. It’s due to the fact that the wide infectivity and fig of cases has truly changeable up,” DeBiasi said.

Even so, infirmary unit person been capable to support the mortality complaint low, she said. “Even our children that are highly ill, critically ill, we’ve gotten precise bully astatine taking attraction of these children.”

In New York City, pediatric hospitalizations accrued five-fold implicit a three-week period.

And astatine the Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Covid-19 cases are astir 3 times higher than the hospital’s erstwhile highest successful December 2020. In the past week, hospitalizations are 4 times higher what the infirmary typically sees.

Overall, experts are informing the adjacent fewer weeks volition beryllium unsmooth for the country.

“There’s nary question that January volition beryllium filled with a batch of short-term challenges — infirmary beds, staffing shortages, tests, shortages of astir everything,” said Andy Slavitt, erstwhile elder advisor to the Biden administration’s Covid-19 effect team.

“It’s pugnacious for the strategy to grip this galore cases astatine once.”

Antigen tests are little delicate to Omicron, FDA says
Health experts accidental at-home antigen tests that crook retired to beryllium affirmative are a bully motion a idiosyncratic is genuinely infected. However, accelerated tests mightiness not prime up the caller Omicron variant arsenic good arsenic erstwhile strains, the US Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday.

Studies connected antigen tests that utilized diligent samples that had the unrecorded microorganism showed that portion the tests observe the Omicron variant, they did truthful with little sensitivity, the FDA said.

Sensitivity measures however often a trial tin springiness a affirmative effect erstwhile idiosyncratic has the disease.

More studies connected the tests are ongoing, and radical should proceed utilizing them, the FDA said.

“The tests are inactive worthwhile. Don’t fto anybody deliberation that the FDA was saying that tests are nary longer good,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, manager National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “They accidental they’re little delicate now. They ne'er were 100% sensitive.”

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