If your holiday plans include getting together with friends and family, Axios has some advice from the experts on how to do so safely amid a nationwide Omicron surge.
Consider getting tested ahead of your gathering, particularly if that event includes "high-risk loved ones," Axios writes. "I would do serial testing if you can," noted former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb on CNBC. "Pull more than one test if you really want to be cautious."
In the event of an exposure, "you shouldn't use a rapid test if you have a high index of suspicion that you've been infected," Gottlieb said. Instead, get a PCR test and isolate yourself.
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Perhaps also steer clear of indoor dining while Omicron is on the rise, Andy Slavitt, President Biden's former senior COVID adviser, told Axios in an email.
And if you test positive, but have received a COVID booster and are asymptomatic, "you should absolutely not be around other people. That is irresponsible and harmful to other people," said Céline Gounder, an infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist at NYU and Bellevue Hospital said to Axios. "Don't be that superspreader."
If you do test positive and are now isolating, "you should stay away from other people and I'd say wait a minimum of five days, and then you can retest at about five days with a rapid test," Gounder added. "If you test negative, then you can come out and socialize again. If you continue to test positive, you should still remain in isolation."
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