The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday cut the recommended isolation time for asymptomatic Americans infected with the coronavirus from 10 days to five, The Washington Post reports.
The decision was based on research showing that those first five days are when people are the most infectious, the CDC said. The agency also reduced the recommended quarantine time for people who are vaccinated but not boosted to five days after any coronavirus exposure. They also should wear masks for five days after their isolation is over. People who have received booster shots should wear masks for 10 days but don't need to isolate.
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.
-
A manga predicting a natural disaster is affecting tourism to JapanUnder the Radar The 1999 book originally warned of a disaster that would befall Japan in 2011 — a prophecy that came true
-
Sudoku hard: May 22, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
Codeword: May 22, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sickspeed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last yearspeed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
-
Trump seeks to cut drug prices via executive orderspeed read The president's order tells pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, but it will likely be thrown out by the courts
-
RFK Jr.: A new plan for sabotaging vaccinesFeature The Health Secretary announced changes to vaccine testing and asks Americans to 'do your own research'
-
RFK Jr. visits Texas as 2nd child dies from measlesSpeed Read An outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease continues to grow following a decade of no recorded US measles deaths
-
Shingles vaccine cuts dementia risk, study findsSpeed Read Getting vaccinated appears to significantly reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia
-
Measles outbreak spreads, as does RFK Jr.'s influenceSpeed Read The outbreak centered in Texas has grown to at least three states and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is promoting unproven treatments
-
Five years on: How Covid changed everythingFeature We seem to have collectively forgotten Covid’s horrors, but they have completely reshaped politics
