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California and Oregon ease CDC guidance, letting students and workers with asymptomatic COVID avoid isolation.
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New York Times
Oregon and California, among the most cautious of states early in the pandemic, have surprised health officials elsewhere by breaking with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and telling infected workers and schoolchildren that as long as they have no symptoms, they are generally free to go about their lives.
The new approach has been greeted with trepidation by some health experts in the United States, especially as wastewater data shows a surge in cases driven by a new variant. But many scientists say that Covid has transitioned from a public health crisis into more of a featured virus among an array of respiratory risks.
“The emergency has ended. Covid-19 is endemic,” said Dr. Melissa Sutton, medical director for respiratory viral pathogens at the Oregon Health Authority. “We’re in a different phase.”
As vaccinations, antiviral treatments and natural immunity have reduced the mortality rate of Covid, state officials have given more consideration to the societal cost of pandemic constraints.
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Studies have demonstrated that people with Covid-19 are most likely to spread the virus in the few days before and after developing symptoms.
The C.D.C. initially recommended that patients isolate for at least 10 days. Since 2021, the C.D.C. has recommended that Covid patients isolate for five days and wear a mask through Day 10, even if they have no symptoms. Most states still officially refer their residents to the federal guidance, even in politically conservative places such as Arizona, where pandemic enforcement was more laissez-faire than in neighboring California.
In May, Oregon became the first state to break with the C.D.C. by relaxing isolation rules for individuals who tested positive for Covid but showed no symptoms. California officials closely watched Oregon’s experience last year and decided last week that it was safe to let people with Covid continue to attend school and work — as long as they aren’t coughing or showing other signs of illness.
Like the C.D.C., Oregon and California still advise infected people to mask indoors in public and stay away for at least 10 days from individuals who are at high risk of illness. But otherwise, both states say individuals with symptoms can venture into the public once they have been free of fever for at least 24 hours and are on the mend.
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