How long should you isolate for COVID — and could it change with omicron? What to know
UPDATED Dec. 27, 2021: The CDC revised its isolation guidelines on Dec. 27 from 10 days to five days. “Given what we currently know about COVID-19 and the Omicron variant, CDC is shortening the recommended time for isolation from 10 days for people with COVID-19 to 5 days, if asymptomatic, followed by 5 days of wearing a mask when around others,” the CDC said in a statement.
Research shows most coronavirus transmission happens from one-to-two days before symptoms appear to two-to-three days after, the CDC said, giving it a five-day window.
The original story is below:
The new omicron coronavirus variant’s rapid spread throughout the United States has some health experts rethinking how long people infected with COVID-19 should isolate at home.
Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — last updated Dec. 9, before omicron became the dominant variant in the U.S. — say people infected with COVID-19, even if asymptomatic, should isolate at home for 10 days while people exposed to the virus should quarantine for 14 days, unless they’re fully vaccinated.
But because omicron seems to evade vaccines and spread more easily, more people, including the fully vaccinated, will likely become infected with the coronavirus — leading some experts to believe the 10-day isolation period may no longer be sustainable.
“We have to keep on reevaluating if isolation can be shortened as we transition to a society where there will be a lot of omicron exposure, given how infectious it is,” Monica Gandhi, an infectious-diseases researcher at the University of California San Francisco, told Vox.
CDC guidelines on COVID-19 isolation and quarantine
A person should isolate when they’ve been infected with the coronavirus, regardless of their symptoms.
“People who are in isolation should stay home until it’s safe for them to be around others,” the CDC says. “At home, anyone sick or infected should separate from others, stay in a specific ‘sick room’ or area, and use a separate bathroom (if available).”
The CDC also says to wear a mask if you are around other people.
For fully vaccinated people with COVID-19 symptoms, the CDC says to get tested and stay home and away from others. If the test is positive, fully vaccinated people should also isolate for 10 days.
“To calculate your 10 full day isolation period, day 0 is your first day of symptoms. Day 1 is the first full day after your symptoms developed,” the CDC says. “If you test positive for COVID-19 and never develop symptoms, day 0 is the day of your positive viral test (based on the date you were tested) and day 1 is the first full day after your positive test. If you develop symptoms after testing positive, your 10-day isolation period must start over.”
Quarantine is different than isolation.
The CDC says you need to quarantine if “you have been in close contact (within 6 feet of someone for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period) with someone who has COVID-19” unless you’re fully vaccinated.
Fully vaccinated people should get tested five to seven days after having close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or has symptoms. The CDC says to wear a mask indoors in public for 14 days after being exposed or until the test comes back negative.
A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or two weeks after receiving the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. A booster dose is not required to be considered fully vaccinated. But health officials have urged everyone to get their booster when eligible as it may provide increased protection against omicron.
A possible change in isolation guidelines
CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told CBS News on Wednesday, Dec. 22, that the agency is “actively examining those data now and doing some modeling analyses to assess that” when asked if there could be a change to the 10-day isolation period.
“We anticipate that we’ll have some updates soon,” she said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, said on CNN that it’s an important consideration, especially in the “context of health care workers.”
“For example, if you get a health care worker who’s infected and without any symptoms at all, you don’t want to keep that person out of work too very long, particularly if we get a run on hospital beds and the need for health care personnel,” Fauci said.
He also said changing the isolation period is a “consideration that’s being discussed.”
“That’s something that at least will be considered — at least considered, no decisions yet, about the possibility that if you do have someone who’s infected, rather than keeping them out for seven or 10 days, if they are without symptoms, put an N95 mask on them, make sure they have the proper PPE, and they might be able to get back to work sooner than the full length of the quarantine period,” Fauci said.
Other experts have expressed concern about the isolation period putting a strain on crucial industries.
“It can’t be said enough. We really need alternative guidance for mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic vaccinated and boostered people testing positive for COVID,” Aaron Carroll, chief health officer at Indiana University, tweeted on Tuesday, Dec. 21. “Mandatory 10 day isolation is going to make things really difficult for essential services (and hard to enforce).”
It’s unclear how much shorter the isolation period would become and to whom the new rules would apply if the CDC changes its guidelines. In the United Kingdom, the government shortened the mandatory isolation period from 10 days to seven to minimize disruptions, CNBC reported.
Experts have said relying more on testing could help shorten the isolation period, especially for the fully vaccinated.
Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told Vox that evidence suggests vaccinated people with breakthrough infections aren’t contagious for the full 10-day period. He told CNN that “fully vaccinated people should be able to use rapid tests to guide them regarding the length of their isolation period.”
“One thing we could do today is to start saying, ‘Use those home tests when you have a breakthrough,’” he told Vox of fully vaccinated people. “‘When you’re negative and you feel good, go back to your life.’”
This story was originally published December 23, 2021 at 2:40 PM with the headline "How long should you isolate for COVID — and could it change with omicron? What to know."
