December 4, 2020 11:26:45 am
A quarantined woman greets from a bus. (AP Photo: Eugene Hoshiko, file)
This week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shortened quarantine periods, from the previously recommended 14 days, for those who may have been exposed. You have now provided some options to shorten quarantine periods based on local circumstances and resources.
So what is the CDC saying now?
With these new quarantine guidelines, the CDC is giving public health agencies the option to shorten quarantine periods and has provided them with some alternatives to do the same.
Under the first alternative, the CDC has said that quarantine can end after day 10 without testing if no symptoms have been reported during daily monitoring. If this approach is taken, it states that the risk of residual transmission after quarantine will fall between 1 and 10 percent.
Alternatively, if resources for diagnostic tests are sufficient and available, the quarantine may end after day 7, provided that the diagnostic sample is negative and no symptoms have been reported during daily monitoring. If this strategy is adopted, the CDC estimates that the risk of residual transmission after quarantine will fall between 5 and 12 percent.
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Under other alternatives, people can suspend quarantine if there is no clinical evidence that they have been observed during daily monitoring for the entire quarantine period, or if daily monitoring for symptoms continues for a period of 14 days, or if advised to people on the need to strictly comply with the 14-day Quarantine.
Additionally, tests may be conducted for the purpose of early interruption of the quarantine if it will not impact community diagnostic testing. The CDC maintains that testing should take priority for those seeking an evaluation of infection.📣 Follow Express explained on Telegram
Why has the CDC taken these new steps?
He says that a quarantine period of less than 14 days balances the reduced load with a small chance of increasing the spread of the virus.
“The recommendation for a 14-day quarantine was based on estimates of the upper limits of the COVID-19 incubation period. The importance of quarantine increased after it became clear that people can transmit SARS-CoV-2 before symptoms develop, and that a substantial portion of infected people (probably 20% to 40% ) never develop symptomatic disease, but can still transmit the virus. . In this context, quarantine is a critical measure to control transmission, “said CDC.
Still, he now points out that a 14-day quarantine period can impose “personal burdens” that can affect an individual’s physical and mental health and cause financial hardship for those who must comply.
At the beginning of the pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) had recognized that reducing daily interactions with people and periods of isolation can generate stress in the population, causing those who suffer from anxiety and health disorders mental health are especially vulnerable.
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Additionally, the CDC has recognized that a 14-day quarantine period also poses additional burdens on public health systems and communities, especially as the number of new cases begins to rise.
Thus, the CDC notes that reducing quarantine periods will help reduce the various burdens associated with a fifteen-day quarantine period and may also increase community compliance, while also saying that a shorter quarantine period to 14 days runs the risk of being “less effective”.
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