CDC updates COVID-19 quarantine guidelines; can end after 7 or 10 days if criteria met
[AP/File]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its COVID-19 quarantine guidelines Wednesday to allow for quarantines to end between seven and 10 days after exposure if certain criteria are met.
According to the CDC, local public health officials establish quarantine options for their jurisdictions but the CDC currently recommends a 14-day quarantine. With certain local circumstances and resources, the quarantine period can be reduced to a seven or 10-day model.
Quarantines can end after 10 days without testing if no symptoms have been reported during daily monitoring. According to the CDC, the residual post-quarantine transmission risk is estimated at about 1% in this scenario with an upper limit of 10%.
If people live in an area with sufficient testing resources, they can end a quarantine after seven days if they get a negative COVID-19 test and aren’t experiencing symptoms. The CDC says the post-quarantine risk of transmission for people in this scenario is 5% with an upper limit of 12%.
The CDC notes, however, that while these options are available for people in certain local circumstances, a 14-day quarantine while monitoring symptoms is still the most effective strategy for reducing the risk of transmission.
More information about the new quarantine guidelines can be found here.