CDC Updates Quarantine Guidance

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its quarantine guidance this week adding 2 additional options for ending it earlier than the previous 14 day recommendation.

CDC recommends people without symptoms can end quarantine on day 10 without a test or on day 7 after receiving a negative test result. In their guidance they recognized the public’s potential hardship in quarantining for 14 days.

“Reducing the length of quarantine may make it easier for people to quarantine by reducing economic hardship if they cannot work during this time,” the CDC website posted in their updated guidance. “In addition, a shorter quarantine period can lessen stress on the public health system, especially when new infections are rapidly rising.”

For those people stopping quarantine earlier than 14 days, CDC recommends people should: watch for symptoms until 14 days after exposure; and If they have symptoms, immediately self-isolate and contact their local public health authority or healthcare provider.

The federal agency still endorses 14 days, but also, “recognizes that any quarantine shorter than 14 days balances reduced burden against a small possibility of spreading the virus.”