How to avoid being 'that superspreader' this holiday season
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.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
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."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
Long Covid: study shows damage to brain's 'control centre'
The Explainer Research could help scientists understand long-term effects of Covid-19 as well as conditions such as MS and dementia
By The Week UK Published
-
FDA OKs new Covid vaccine, available soon
Speed read The CDC recommends the new booster to combat the widely-circulating KP.2 strain
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Mpox: how dangerous is new health emergency?
Today's Big Question Spread of potentially deadly sub-variant more like early days of HIV than Covid, say scientists
By The Week UK Published
-
What is POTS and why is it more common now?
The explainer The condition affecting young women
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Brexit, Matt Hancock and black swans: five takeaways from Covid inquiry report
The Explainer UK was 'unprepared' for pandemic and government 'failed' citizens with flawed response, says damning report
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Should masks be here to stay?
Talking Points New York Governor Kathy Hochul proposed a mask ban. Here's why she wants one — and why it may not make sense.
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
Covid might be to blame for an uptick in rare cancers
The explainer The virus may be making us more susceptible to certain cancers
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Long Covid and chronic pain: is it all in the mind?
The Explainer 'Retraining the brain' could offer a solution for some long Covid sufferers
By The Week UK Published