GROSSE POINTE, Mich. – On Monday the CDC announced changes to COVID quarantine recommendations, including cutting the amount of days suggested to quarantine in half.
Beaumont Health Family Medicine practitioner and medical director of Community Health for Beaumont Hospital Grosse Pointe, Dr. Asha Shajahan said since the announcement, questions from patients are pouring in.
“A lot of people have been asking me ‘why five days? What happened to the 10? And are we now being less protected?’” said Shajahan. “The answer to that is really based on the evidence that the COVID-19 virus, especially with the omicron variant, is most infectious two days before you have symptoms and three days afterwards. So that’s why that magic number five is there.”
Read: CDC issues new COVID quarantine, isolation guidelines: What to know
Even after those five days of isolation and that person no longer has symptoms they are still expected to wear their mask in public and around people.
“If you look at the overall recommendation, it’s still asking for extra protection for the total of 10 days which has been the same as before. The differences is just you’ve got five days of being quarantined if you are asymptomatic and exposed or have a positive test and then not boosted. And then five days of masking afterwards when you’re back out in public,” Shajahan said.
She said the changes are mainly for people who are asymptomatic and not showing symptoms after five days.
“Let’s say you do test positive and you do have symptoms, nothing has changed in terms of guidelines for that. So if you have symptoms for COVID-19 and you’ve tested positive, you should stay home until your symptoms have resolved or you’ve been been free for free for at least 24 hours without medication,” said Shajahan.
Read: US move to shorten COVID-19 isolation stirs confusion, doubt