CDC considers updating COVID isolation rules following pushback on testing, Fauci says
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering adding a testing requirement to its new COVID-19 isolation guidelines. The rules have recently been a point of criticism as the new omicron variant spreads in the United States.
The CDC on Dec. 27 said people who are infected with the coronavirus now need to isolate for 5 days instead of 10 if they are asymptomatic or if their symptoms are “resolving.” The isolation period should be followed by five days of wearing a face mask around others. A negative COVID-19 test is not required to end isolation.
The new guidelines, particularly the lack of a testing requirement, have faced criticism, with some experts questioning their safety. Now, Fauci said on ABC’s “This Week,” they could be updated again.
“There has been some concern about why we don’t ask people at that five day period to get tested,” Fauci said Sunday, Jan. 2. “That is something that is now under consideration.”
He went on to say that the CDC is “very well aware” of the pushback on the lack of a testing requirement.
“Looking at it again, there may be an option in that, that testing could be a part of that, and I think we’re going to be hearing more about that in the next day or so from the CDC,” he said on “This Week.”
Why the CDC changed its guidelines
The CDC said Dec. 27 that the decision to shorten the isolation guidelines was “motivated by science” that shows the majority of coronavirus transmission usually occurs early in an infection: one to two days before symptoms start and two to three days after.
Walensky said on CNN’s “New Day” that the agency also took into account what period people would “tolerate.”
“Some science has demonstrated less than a third of people are isolating when they need to,” Walensky said. “And so we really want to make sure that we had guidance in this moment — when we were going to have a lot of disease — that could be adhered to, that people were willing to adhere to and that spoke specifically to when people were maximally infectious.”
Fauci also expanded on the reasons behind the decision. He explained on MSNBC on Dec. 30 that COVID-19 tests do a good job of determining whether or not someone is infected with the coronavirus but that they are not good at predicting whether or not someone is transmitting the virus.
“The original (Food and Drug Administration) approval of the test was not for the purpose of determining, if multiple days following infection, that you are able to transmit,” Fauci said. “And for that reason the CDC said it was not necessary to have a test because the risk is low.”
Criticism over the new guidelines
The CDC’s new guidelines came after some experts pushed for a shorter isolation period. They argued that the omicron variant’s ability to spread and evade vaccines more easily means more people will become infected with COVID-19 — making a 10-day isolation period unsustainable and disruptive.
But after the change, some experts cast doubt on the safety of the shorter isolation and lack of a testing rule.
“On the one hand: I’m all for following the science for the vaccinated & asymptomatic. No reason to keep people home unnecessarily,” Dr. Megan Ranney, the academic dean for the Brown University School of Public Health, tweeted. “On the other hand: the data shows a RANGE of infectiousness. Requiring a rapid test before ending isolation (esp for folks like, say, healthcare workers) would be far, far, far safer.”
Dr. Ashish Jha, third dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said on Twitter that the new isolation guidelines are “reasonable” but wrote that he would have required a negative antigen test after five days, had different guidelines for vaccinated and unvaccinated people and specified that people need to wear higher quality masks when around others.
Some experts still acknowledged that shortening the isolation period would relieve stress on hospitals and businesses as more workers likely become infected with omicron.
This story was originally published January 2, 2022 at 1:35 PM with the headline "CDC considers updating COVID isolation rules following pushback on testing, Fauci says."
