COVID-19 is becoming more like the flu, so unique health rules specific to the virus are no longer needed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday, coinciding with the release of the unified “.Respiratory virus guide. ”
in a long sentence Background materialThe agency is reviewing the rationale for consolidating guidance for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) into general guidance for respiratory viruses, including influenza, RSV, adenoviruses, rhinoviruses, enteroviruses, and others, although not specifically measles. explained. The agency also noted that the guidance does not apply to medical settings or outbreak scenarios.
“While COVID-19 remains a significant public health threat, it is no longer the emergency it once was, and its health impact is comparable to that of other respiratory viral diseases, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus. increasingly similar,” the agency wrote.
The most notable change in the new guidelines is the previously reported decision not to recommend a minimum five-day isolation period for people infected with the pandemic coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Instead, the new isolation guidelines are based on symptoms and are consistent with long-standing isolation guidelines for other respiratory viruses, including influenza.
“The latest respiratory virus guidance states that people with symptoms of a respiratory virus that cannot be better explained by another cause should stay home and distance themselves from others for at least 24 hours after their fever and overall symptoms have improved. ”, the document states. “This recommendation addresses the time when most people are most contagious and have the highest viral load, usually during the first few days of illness and when symptoms such as fever are worst.”
“Residual risk”
The CDC acknowledged that relaxing quarantine guidance creates a “residual risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection” and that most people are no longer contagious after 8 to 10 days. Authorities therefore called on the public to follow additional interventions for an additional five days after the quarantine period, including wearing masks, getting tested, maintaining distance, hygiene, and improving air quality.
“Today’s announcement reflects the progress we are making to protect against severe illness caused by COVID-19,” CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen said in a statement. “But we still need to use the common-sense solutions we know work to protect ourselves and others from serious illness from respiratory viruses, including: This includes vaccinations, treatment, and staying home if you get sick.”
Overall, authorities argued that shortening the quarantine period was not important. Other countries and states that have similarly abolished quarantine periods have not seen a spike in emergency department visits or hospitalizations due to COVID-19, the CDC noted. And most people infected with COVID-19 don’t even know they’re infected in the first place, so COVID-19-specific guidance doesn’t make sense, officials say. insisted. In a recent CDC survey, fewer than half of people said they would get tested for SARS-CoV-2 if they had cough or cold symptoms, and 10% said they would go to a pharmacy or health care provider to get tested. It was less than %. Meanwhile, “the overall sensitivity of COVID-19 antigen tests is relatively low, and even lower for people with mild symptoms,” the agency said.
The CDC also raised real concerns about isolation, including many people’s lack of paid sick leave, social isolation, and “social costs.”
This point is likely to be unpopular with critics.
“The CDC is once again putting short-term business interests ahead of our health by bowing to employer pressure for coronavirus guidelines. This continues a pattern we have seen throughout the pandemic. ,” said Lara Girmanas, a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School. press release Last month after news first broke about updates on the CDC’s planned quarantine. Gilmanus is a member of the People’s CDC, a group advocating for more aggressive COVID-19 policies, which issued a press release.
Another member of the group, Sam Friedman, a population health professor at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, also slammed the CDC’s stance last month. He said the guidance “makes workplaces and public spaces even less safe for everyone, especially those at high risk of coronavirus complications.”
New coronavirus and influenza
But the CDC maintains that the threat of COVID-19 is waning. Hospitalizations, deaths, long-term COVID-19 morbidity, and complications from COVID-19 in children (MIS-C) are all decreasing. COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective in preventing severe disease, death, and some long-term disease, but we just need more people to get vaccinated. is. More than 95% of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 during the 2023-2024 respiratory season had no record of receiving a seasonal booster shot, the agency noted. Only 22% of adults have received the latest vaccination, and just 42% of those over 65. In contrast, 48% of adults had received a current influenza vaccination, and 73% of them were 65 years of age or older.
However, even at low levels of COVID-19 vaccination coverage, the combination of past infection and vaccination provides substantial protection for the population as a whole. The CDC even claimed that the number of deaths due to the new coronavirus has decreased to a level comparable to that of the flu.
“The number of deaths reported related to COVID-19 is several times higher than the number of deaths reported related to influenza and RSV. However, influenza and possibly RSV are often underreported as causes of death. ” said the CDC. Nearly 90,000 deaths from COVID-19 were reported during the 2022-2023 respiratory virus season. In the case of influenza, the reported death toll was 9,559, but the CDC estimates the actual death toll to be between 18,000 and 97,000. So far this season, 32,949 people have died from the coronavirus and 5,854 people have died from the flu, but authorities say the actual number of deaths from the flu is between 17,000 and 50,000. It is estimated that this is the case.
“Given underreporting, the total number of deaths from COVID-19 is likely to be higher, but similar, to the total number of deaths from influenza,” the agency concluded.
Overall, the CDC was ready to incorporate SARS-CoV-2 into the group of common seasonal respiratory viruses, and most cases were mild and undiagnosed. “Although most acute respiratory illnesses are caused by viruses, it is rarely possible to determine the type of virus without testing, and testing often does not change clinical management,” the agency wrote.
