Covid-19

For the first time since 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its COVID isolation guidance. 

What are the updated recommendations for someone who comes down with a respiratory infection?

The updated guidance from the CDC is to “stay home and away from others (including people you live with who are not sick) if you have respiratory virus symptoms that aren't better explained by another cause.” You can resume normal activities once your symptoms are improving and you’ve been fever-free—without the aid of fever-reducing medications—for at least 24 hours.

For five days after you resume your normal activities, you should take extra precautions, 

• like wearing a well-fitting mask and 

• maintaining distance from others, 

• gathering outdoors or in well-ventilated areas, 

• cleaning hands and high-touch surfaces often, and 

• testing when possible before gathering with others. 

• If symptoms or fever return, you should start back at square one: staying home and away from others until you’ve been improving and fever-free for at least 24 hours.

The CDC has simplified its recommendations for how long to stay home and isolate after testing positive or experiencing symptoms to be consistent across COVID-19, influenza, and RSV infections. This way, anyone who develops symptoms can follow the same isolation guidance, irrespective of what respiratory virus they’re infected with.

This guidance on how long to isolate is just one part of a larger strategy for combating respiratory viruses that includes:

• Being up to date on recommended vaccines.

• Practicing good hygiene regarding hand-washing, sneezing, and coughing.

• Being aware of antiviral treatment options for COVID-19 and influenza.

• Taking steps to improve indoor air quality.

Testing can play an important role in preventing transmission, particularly if you were recently around someone who has since become sick, or if you plan to spend time with someone who is at higher risk of severe infection.

For COVID in particular, rapid home antigen tests are a great way to determine whether you’re still infectious and able to infect others. Symptom severity can be fairly subjective and a presence or lack of symptoms does not always align with infectiousness, so testing out of isolation for COVID is still good practice if you have access to tests.

COVID-19 is still causing more cases and more severe disease than influenza or RSV. A person’s risk for severe infection will also vary based on a number of factors, including age and health conditions.

The updated guidance acknowledges that we can simplify the recommendations for what to do after becoming infected with a respiratory virus, as part of the larger strategy to address spread.